SLAYER Breathing Styles Tier List

Breathing Styles are the Slayer-side combat kits in SLAYER by kriel (Place ID 134190081223854). They sit alongside clan passives, Nichirin progression, and the core parry loop that defines high-level play. This page ranks styles as practical guidance for PvE pressure versus PvP reads. It is not a copy of Slayers 2 meta, and it is not a claim that one style permanently outclasses the rest—community and developer messaging emphasize that Breathing Styles stay comparatively close when players learn their kits.

If you are still choosing a faction, skim Getting Started first. Demon players should leave this page and open Blood Demon Arts instead. Clan passives that amplify specific styles are catalogued on the Clans page, and full loadout advice lives under Slayer builds.

Documented roster

Obtainable styles currently documented for SLAYER include:

Style	Notes
Flame	Legendary; relentless blazing pressure; Limb Breaker appears along the tutorial path
Lunar	Distinct lunar toolkit; learn defensive versus combo commitments
Water	Versatile confirms and flexible mid-range tools
Thunder	Mobility and fast entries for repositioning and punish windows
Mist	Trickier angles; rewards lab time and spacing discipline
Beast	Aggressive multi-hit identity
Breathless	Prowess-leaning kit with armored tools
Insect	Niche poison / precision play; showcase video embedded on this page
Sound	Burst and stun-oriented niche
Wind	Mobility and air-control flavored tools

Sun and Shadow are listed as unobtainable (developer-locked). Do not plan a build around rolling them.

Insect Breathing showcase

How we tier styles in SLAYER

We split advice into two lenses:

1. PvE pressure — How easily the kit clears packs, holds boss windows, and forgives imperfect confirms.
2. PvP reads — How well the kit opens, escapes, and punishes after a successful parry or whiff punish.

Because SLAYER combat is parry-first, a style with slightly lower raw damage can still climb if its animations telegraph less and its resets are cleaner. Training Strength, Prowess, Vitality, and Agility (see Slayer builds) matters as much as the style letter.

Practical tier framing (guidance)

Band	Styles	Why it sits here
Strong PvE pressure	Flame, Water, Thunder	Reliable clears and approachable confirms; Flame especially for blazing forward pressure
Strong mobility / PvP entry	Thunder, Wind, Mist	Fast repositioning and awkward angles that punish static opponents
Versatile all-rounders	Water, Beast, Breathless	Flexible kits that adapt once you learn one solid string
Niche specialists	Insect, Sound	Excel in specific setups (poison ticks, burst windows) but ask for deliberate practice
High expression	Mist, Lunar	Reward labbing; harder first hour, strong once timings click

Again: bands overlap on purpose. Community consensus for this game is that styles are near equal—pick the fantasy and movement feel you enjoy, then master parries.

Style-by-style notes

Flame Breathing (Legendary)

Flame is the Legendary style most new Slayers encounter. It is described in-game as relentless, blazing forms built to overwhelm. Limb Breaker shows up in the tutorial path, which makes Flame an excellent first kit for learning launchers, guard pressure, and forward commits. Pair thematically with Rengoku (Legendary Slayer clan: once-per-life revive at 20% HP plus a short damage buff) for a cohesive offense fantasy. Flame ranks high for PvE pressure because wide, readable aggression clears content while you learn the map.

Thunder Breathing

Thunder prioritizes mobility. Use it when you want to enter, exit, and re-enter fights without eating every counter. Synergizes thematically with Agatsuma (Rare: Sleeping Thunder—wake under 25% HP with a damage spike). Thunder is a top pick when your losses come from getting stuck in place rather than from raw DPS.

Water Breathing

Water is the versatile answer. If you are unsure what content you will farm this week, Water’s toolkit adapts. Tomioka (Dead Calm: first hit after eight seconds untouched reduces damage taken) rewards patient spacing that Water players already practice.

Insect and Sound

These are niche kits. Insect leans into precision and status-style pressure (the embedded showcase helps visualize timing). Sound leans into burst windows and disruptive hits. Neither is “bad” in a balanced roster—they simply punish autopilot more than Flame or Water. Kocho (Wisteria Venom on every third hit) and Uzui (Flamboyant Score burst) are natural clan partners when you want the fantasy to match the kit.

Mist, Beast, Breathless, Wind, Lunar

• Mist — trickier reads; practice whiff punishment and mix-ups before ranking it down.
• Beast — multi-hit aggression; pair with stacking offense clans such as Hashabira (Feral Assault) when available.
• Breathless — leans on Prowess investment; check Slayer builds before dumping all points into Strength.
• Wind — mobility cousin to Thunder; strong when you already understand dash discipline.
• Lunar — separate identity from Flame/Thunder; learn which tools are defensive counters versus long combo spends.

Clan synergy checklist

Before burning pity, open the Clans tables and ask:

• Does this clan’s passive fire during the same windows my style already creates?
• Am I chasing a thematic duo (Rengoku + Flame, Agatsuma + Thunder, Kocho + Insect) or a universal buffer (Ubuyashiki aura, Kamado Opening Thread)?
• Is my next Legendary pity better spent waiting, or is my current Rare already enough for PvE?

Pity reminder: Legendary+ within 60, Mythic within 180 on the documented reroll board.

Training priorities while you lab a style

1. Learn one safe opener, one guardbreak / pressure tool, one movement option, and one ender.
2. Drill parry (timed block) until it is muscle memory—style damage cannot save a player who never parries.
3. Raise Breathing Level and complete documented limit-break milestones before blaming the tier list.
4. Forge and equip a compatible Nichirin so forms stop rejecting wooden blades.
5. Cross-check Players for complete Slayer routes and Codes for free resources.

Breathing versus Demon path

If you reroll into a Demon life, your power fantasy shifts to Blood Level, sunlight risk, body consumption, and BDA kits. Compare systems on Blood Demon Arts and Demon builds. Do not expect Breathing tier letters to map one-to-one onto Demon arts.

Related pages

• Tier List Hub — overview of all ranking pages
• Clans — full Slayer and Demon clan passives
• Blood Demon Arts — Demon kits and unlock path
• Slayer builds — clan + style examples and stat order
• Getting Started — controls and early progression
• Codes — redeemable rewards

Master one style deeply before chasing every Mythic clan. In SLAYER, parry skill plus a style you enjoy beats a letter grade you never labbed.