Project Slayers 2 Tier List
There is no shortage of Slayers 2 tier lists — within a day of release, five outlets had published one. The problem is that they contradict each other, so a fourth opinion would not help you. This page does something different: it puts the three rankings that can actually be read side by side, marks where they agree, and flags exactly where they clash so you know which placements are safe and which are someone else's taste.
How This Tier List Was Built
Three columns, one per outlet, and a consensus band that is derived from them rather than invented. If all three place a kit in the same band, that band is the consensus. If they span two or more tiers, the row is marked as contested and the disagreement is written out instead of averaged away. Entries that only one outlet ranks are labelled as single-source.
Publishes one table that mixes styles, arts and weapons, and names Wind and Thunder as its preliminary top picks. Several entries are deliberately left unranked where the author judges the evidence insufficient — Blood Manipulation, Obi Manipulation, Explosive Blood and Serpent.
Deliberately merges Breathing Styles and Demon Arts into a single table so both halves of the meta can be compared, and states PvP and PvE reasoning separately before giving one combined letter.
Ranks purely on PvE and drops that to four tiers plus D, naming the in-game wielder of each kit. It cites no sources and its own FAQ says to take the ranking with a grain of salt.
All three were read on November 8, 2026. None of them is a developer statement, none publishes its test method in full, and one states that its ranking is based on imagined PvE scenarios. That is exactly why the disagreements below are shown rather than smoothed over.
One Creator Ranking the Whole Release
The tables on this page compare published text rankings. This is what a single voiced ranking looks like for the reader who would rather watch one run-through than reconcile three tables. It is one creator's opinion, which is exactly why the consensus tables above exist rather than a fourth list.
The Nerfs and Buffs That Landed After Launch
The three rankings above were published around release. This is the pass that followed it: a creator tier list re-recorded once the servers were open, read here for the balance changes rather than for the ranking itself. The creator states outright that his list is PvE-only, which is exactly why the placements below disagree with the PvP-inclusive tables above.
- Flame moved up: the counter now answers skills instead of only M1 chains, the X range increased significantly, and the V hold startup was cut close to instant. The creator moves Flame up a tier on those three changes alone.
- Water moved up: the hold variant gains hyper armour, the Water Wheel tap variant speed went from 35 to 60, the X hold now activates immediately, and the tap variant applies a brief stun that extends combos.
- Sound is the biggest fall:damage output was cut hard, and X is no longer a guaranteed guard break — it was replaced with increased guard damage. Read together with the V nerf, the creator drops Sound from S to the top of B and no longer recommends it at all.
- Blood Demon Arts, and Blood specifically, took the worst of it: the X moved from invulnerability frames to hyper armour and lost its final-hit guard break, which is the part that made it a boss-farming kit. Sickles, used alongside it, was nerfed in the same pass.
- Stone is stronger but still slow:the ultimate gains hyper armour and the counter cooldown was released, giving the kit two guaranteed guard breaks — enough to beat Sound in this ranking, not enough to leave B tier.
- Wind can start combos now: the knockback was removed (0.50 to zero) and windups were reduced, so the same move that used to end a combo opens one. Insect traded its invulnerability frames for hyper armour, cut Z cooldowns, and pays 8% maximum stamina per second while V is held. Thunder and Serpent are described as effectively unchanged in placement.
revolver agz (September 19, 2026), transcribed from the video captions. Every figure here is that creator's reading of the live client rather than a developer patch note, so a later balance pass can move it again; the place it disagrees with the three published tables above is the disagreement, not an error in either.
The balance picture moved again on September 20, and this time the ranking opinion matters far less than the list of what actually changed. A PvP-focused creator reads the patch out on camera; the four items below are the ones that affect a decision on this page.
- Thunder took the headline change, and it is narrower than the reaction suggests:the creator reads it as a windup and reaction-time nerf rather than a cut to damage, cooldown or combo potential, and argues the style is still viable — it simply no longer has an unreactable gap closer. Treat the “dead breathing” posts in the chat as community reaction, not as the patch.
- Water is the biggest riser on the same list:the patch applied two separate buffs to it, which is why it is called the most improved style here — the opposite direction from the Sound nerf recorded above.
- Tamari was fixed as well as buffed: the art was widely written off before this pass, which is exactly why a fix plus a buff moves it furthest relative to its starting point. A projectile-based art also picked up a buff that the creator does not think it needed.
- Every boss skill drop rate went up by 5%: the smallest-sounding line in the patch and the one with the widest effect on this site, because the schematic and skill-drop grinds described on the Beginner's Guide are the grinds it shortens.
Mizurri (September 20, 2026), transcribed from the video captions. The video is a PvP match commentary built around the patch, so its own ranking claims are deliberately not reproduced — only the change list and the reasoning that can be checked against the client. Automatic captions are unreliable on numbers, so percentages here are read from the spoken change list rather than copied from on-screen patch text.
The October Rework: One Outlet Replaced Its Own Ladder
The three columns in the tables below are the September readings. On October 5, 2026 one of the three — Destructoid — scrapped its ranking and republished it split into PvE and PvP, which means its own September column no longer matches the page it links to.
- Water Breathing is the one placement that fully reversed. It was the disputed C here; after the October buff it sits in the top band in both the PvE and PvP ladders, with the rework naming it one of the largest buffs the style has had, including a stun on a move that can be used out of hitstun.
- Wind Breathing stayed where the disagreement put it. The long-startup problem was listed as fixed in the same patch and it still landed in the bottom overlapping band on both new ladders, which supports the two outlets that already had it low rather than the one that makes it the best style.
- Thunder, Sound, Insect, Stone and Serpent held their bands across the rework, so the consensus row at the top of the next table is the part of this page that has not needed a correction.
- Flame is still conditional.Both ladders place it at the top only with the Rengoku clan and mid without it, which is the same shape this page already published — the difference is that the condition is now stated as a condition rather than as one mid-tier letter.
What this page does with a rework: nothing is overwritten silently. The September columns stay as the record of what was published then, the reversed placement is named here with its date, and the two places where the October reading contradicts the table — Water and Wind — carry the correction in their own rows. A reader who wants a single current answer for Water should take the October one; a reader comparing outlets should know that one of the three no longer says what its column says.
Breathing Styles: Consensus Across Three Rankings
All three outlets name the same eight styles — Sound, Water, Wind, Flame, Insect, Thunder, Stone and Serpent. Sun and Mist do not appear in any of them, which is why they are absent from this table.
| Style | Pro Game Guides | Destructoid | Kongbakpao | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Thunder Breathing Zenitsu The only style every outlet ranks at the very top, and all three give the same reason: instant or near-instant startups that are hard to react to. | Top pick | S | S | Top tier in all three |
Sound Breathing Tengen Two outlets rank it A or better on combo extension and projectile damage; the third is cooler on it. The lowest placement is still mid, so it is a safe investment. | Mid | A | S | A tier in all three |
Insect Breathing Shinobu Fast, easy to chain, high combo damage in both modes. Unanimous A, with the caveat that it plays at close range. | Playstyle pick | A | A | A tier in all three |
Serpent Breathing (Snake) Iguro The widest gap in the whole page: one outlet refuses to rank it at all until it can be judged on the same criteria, while the other two put it at A and S on combo potential and mobility. | Unranked | A | S | Sources contradict |
Flame Breathing Rengoku Every ranking ties its ceiling to the Rengoku clan. It is the clearest example on this page of a placement that depends on what you rolled, not on the style alone. | Strong alternate | B | A | Mid, all three |
Water Breathing Giyu Called a strong alternative by one outlet and the weakest style in the game by another, which is a disagreement about whether slow startups or safe buttons matter more. The October 5, 2026 rework settled it in Water’s favour: the outlet that had it at C moved it to the top band in both modes. | Strong alternate | C | B | Sources contradict |
Wind Breathing Sanemi The single sharpest contradiction here. One outlet makes it the best style in the game for mobility and flexibility; two others drop it to C because its tornado skills are too slow and displace enemies awkwardly. The October 5, 2026 rework fixed the startup problem and still kept it in the bottom band, which settles it against the top-pick reading. | Top pick | C | C | Sources contradict |
Stone Breathing Gyomei Unanimously the least recommended. Hyper armour makes it a genuine PvP option, but it is melee-locked and slow, and none of the three treats it as a general-purpose pick. | Lower tier | B | C | Bottom band, all three |
Wind and Waterare the traps. Wind is one outlet's single best style and two other outlets' C tier; Water is a “strong alternate” to one and the worst style in the game to another. In both cases the disagreement is about the same trait: their key skills have long start-ups, so rankings that weight PvP reactions punish them and rankings that weight PvE coverage reward them. Decide which of those you actually are before spending a reset.
Blood Demon Arts: Consensus Across Three Rankings
Nine arts are named across the three sources. The live game also renames a few of them depending on the outlet — Ice Manipulation is called Cryokinesis in one, Destructive Death becomes Shockwave in another — so both names are shown where that happens.
| Demon Art | Pro Game Guides | Destructoid | Kongbakpao | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ice Manipulation (Cryokinesis) Douma Three for three at the top. Named grab, strong counter, large area control and the best of the arts in dungeon runs. | Leading | S | S | Top tier in all three |
Shockwave (Destructive Death) Akaza Unanimously high. Aggressive melee plus ranged openers, a teleport chase and a counter — and it pairs with the Soyama clan for a double counter. | Leading | A | A | A tier in all three |
Blood Manipulation (Blood Sickles) Gyutaro Two outlets call it the strongest art in the game before the first balance patch, on barrage DPS. The third withholds a rank and states why: needing a Sickle is not by itself evidence of strength. | Unranked | S | S | Sources contradict |
Dream Manipulation Enmu Unanimously strong and unanimously PvP-leaning: a stun plus a strong grab into top-tier combos, with average PvE. | Promising | A | A | A tier in all three |
Reaper Slasher Ranked A on combo options and speed. Kongbakpao covers the same slot under a different name, which is the roster-naming problem this game has in general. | Mobility pick | A | Speed Augmentation (A) | A tier in all three |
Explosive Blood (Combustible Blood) Nezuko Two outlets agree on B and on the reason: parts of the kit are blockable or dodgeable, so the big hits only pay off when they land. | Unranked | B | B | Bottom band, all three |
Obi Manipulation (Flesh Manipulation) Daki Both outlets that rank it call it a duel-only toolbox — weak in PvE, strong in 1v1 if you learn it. Not a farming pick. | Unranked | B | C | Bottom band, all three |
Arrow Yahaba Unanimously the inverse of Obi: slow and telegraphed in PvP, but genuinely fine in PvE. | Lower tier | B | B | Bottom band, all three |
Temari (Susamaru) Susamaru The only entry all three outlets place in the bottom band. Nobody argues for it. | Lower tier | C | D | Bottom band, all three |
Two cross-cutting patterns survive the disagreement. First, PvP-leaning kits cluster at the top wherever a ranking considers PvP at all, because their value does not depend on enemy positioning. Second, the bottom band is stable: Arrow and Temari are placed low by every outlet, so those are the placements you can act on with the least risk.
Clans Rank Separately, and Two Sources Agree on the Ladder
Clan rankings are more settled than style rankings because the roster and the drop odds are published consistently: Supreme covers four clans at about 0.1%, Mythic six at about 0.9%, Legendary four at 4%, Rare five at 12%, Uncommon five at 23% and everything else is a Common at roughly 60%. Both rankings of the clan list put the same names in their top band — Kamado, Rengoku, Himejima, Uzui, Soyama, Iguro and Shabana.
- Rarity is not power, and both sources say so outright. Urokodaki is a Rare clan that both rankings describe as one of the best water picks in the game, ahead of several Mythics.
- Every style has a clan that lifts it. Flame wants Rengoku, Wind wants Shinazugawa, Thunder wants Agatsuma, serpent wants Iguro, insect wants Kocho. Rolling the clan first is cheaper than rolling the style first.
The full ladder, the clan types and the per-clan reasoning live on the clans and bloodlines database.
How to Use This Without Chasing a Letter
A slayers 2 tier list is four lists wearing one name, so this page links out rather than merging them. The style bands are below, the clan bands have their own short ladder on the clan database, the Demon Arts are graded on the BDA page, and the level gate that decides when any of it becomes available is written up on the Final Selection guide.
Thunder, Sound, Insect, Ice Manipulation, Shockwave and Dream Manipulation appear in the same band across every source. If you want one decision you will not regret in a week, take one of those.
Wind, Water and Serpent are the contested rows, and the disagreement is really about PvP reactions versus PvE coverage. Pick the one whose weakness you can live with rather than the one with the better average.
Two of the three rankings explicitly say a style's placement assumes clan synergy. A great style with the wrong clan loses to a mid style with the right one.
One of the sources was written before the first balance patch and says so. The patches that followed have repeatedly moved the slow-start-up kits first.
What the September 22 Pass Moved
Every ranking above was recorded before release or within a day of it. One creator re-ranked the whole roster after the September 22, 2026 patch and filmed the result. It is the most direct contradiction recorded on this page: the two earlier passes (September 19 and 20) adjusted styles without re-ranking the roster end to end.
- Thunder is no longer the safe pick: the patch left its signature gap-closer feeling slow to the creator — the skill actually named God Speed is described as a walk now — and Thunder is dropped to B tier in that re-ranking.
- Serpent inherits the top spot: the argument is a handover rather than a new discovery. Thunder was first and Serpent second before the patch, so cutting Thunder down leaves Serpent as, in that creator's words, the only officially best style in the game.
- Water is the other riser, and the two post-patch videos disagree about how far: one moves it from the worst style in the game to C or low B, while a second calls it the best boss-damage style now that Thunder has been cut, on a recorded combo that opened with Z into three light attacks, then X and C.
- What did not move: Sound, Stone and Flame are called untouched in that re-ranking and stay where it had them before the patch. That is not the same as agreeing with the three published tables above, which read Sound as A in all three, Flame as mid-table in all three and Stone as bottom-band in all three.
Re-ranking by Deepshaken, published September 22, 2026 and transcribed from the video captions; compared against a second post-patch video by Default Dyver on the same day. The bands above are one creator reading one build, and the pre-patch rankings stay visible higher up this page on purpose: the useful question is not which style is best but which ranking was recorded when.
Damage-First Builds: What One Creator Stacks
Tier bands say which kit is strong; this is how one build turns a kit into numbers.
- Skill damage feeds M1 damage: the mechanic on show is that the more skill damage you deal, the more your light attacks stack up — so burst rotations and basic attacks compound instead of competing.
- Health points stay cheap: the build spends most of its points elsewhere because health nodes cost few points, which is why the rest of the budget goes into damage.
Source: MAX DAMAGE Guide & Tips In Project Slayers 2 by BLUEZ, transcribed from the video captions; title and channel verified through the YouTube oEmbed API on 2026-09-24.
Project Slayers 2 Tier List FAQ
Is there a slayers 2 weapon tier list too?
Yes, and it lives on a separate page because gear is ranked on different evidence from styles and arts. The weapons tier list comparison puts five published weapon ladders side by side, shows where Nightfall and Firstlight picks agree, and explains why Nightfall Sickles land in three different tiers depending on whether the author ranks stats, movesets or acquisition cost.
What is the best Breathing Style?
It depends on the date you read the answer at, which is why this page shows its working twice. Across the three rankings compared above (all recorded at or before launch) Thunder is the answer, and the reason is the same each time: its skills start almost instantly, with Sound the consensus second. After the September 22 pass a creator re-ranking drops Thunder to B, and after the October 5 rework one of those three outlets moved Water to the top band in both its PvE and PvP ladders. The current reading is therefore Thunder for instant-startup play and Water for everything else.
Why do the tier lists disagree so much?
Because they are answering different questions. PvE-only ranking rewards coverage and boss damage; PvP-aware ranking rewards fast start-ups and punishes long animations; and one outlet deliberately leaves weak evidence unranked rather than guessing. Same game, three different questions.
Are Sun and Mist Breathing playable?
Not in the launch roster. Every source that names the current styles names the same eight, and Sun and Mist are in none of them. Our style database tracks them separately for exactly that reason.
Is this page your own ranking?
No, and that is deliberate. Every cell above quotes what another outlet published, and the consensus column only reports whether they agreed. Our own contribution is the comparison and the conflict notes, not a fourth set of placements.
Is this the breathing tier list for Project Slayers 2?
The Breathing Styles consensus section above doubles as one: it lines up three independent rankings, marks where the first balance pass moved Thunder and buffed Water, and links every style to its full kit breakdown in the style database.
Related references: breathing styles database, blood demon arts database, clans and bloodlines, and the wiki index.