Slayers 2 Breathing Style & Demon Art Tier List [PVE/PVP]

Updated on October 5, 2026: Completely reworked the tier list and separated it into PVP and PVE rankings.

Slayers 2 Breathing Style & Demon Art Tier List

The best Breathing Styles and Evil/Blood Demon Arts in Slayers 2 luckily have a lot of nuance to them. There are some overall powerful options like Water Breathing and Shockwave but it’s generally down to personal preference after that. Some movesets have more optimal skills for single target, some for AOE and some are versatile. Below you’ll find two tier lists for PVE then PVP and after that a table of ranking reasons & notes on each moveset individually.

Best Clans: Slayers 2 Clan Tier List

Best Weapons for Slayers & Demons: Slayers 2 Weapon Tier List

Breathing Style & Demon Art PVE Rankings

Water Breathing game image — All Breathing Styles & Blood Demon Arts Ranked (PVE)

Thunder Breathing game image — All Breathing Styles & Blood Demon Arts Ranked (PVE)

Breathing Style & Demon Art PVP Rankings

Breathing Style & BDA Ranking Notes (PVP & PVE)

Breathing Style	Ranking Notes
Water Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: S PVP Rank: S • Water got the biggest PVP & PVE glow up of all time with a ton of buffs and is pretty strong against bosses • X is now OP since it’s faster, stuns, is an amazing combo extend and can end other players’ combos since it can be used while stunned • This means you can now end a combo on you and start your own which is massively powerful • Water Wheel also stuns now and is a powerful combo extender even though H.A. got removed • Overall you now have better combos, iFrames on moves and great damage with AOE bumping Water into S-Tier
Shockwave Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: S PVP Rank: S • Shockwave got massive buffs with an excellent moveset for combos if you combine with Soryu’s all Hyper Armor moveset and strong dual counters (Optional with Soyama Clan) • You can also break Hyper Armor moves with your counter • That said, unlike Dream, it’s also quite strong for PVE with a barrage against bosses and great AOE damage for Dungeons • One of the best movesets in the game with Soryu and by itself thanks to the buffs
Blood Manipulation Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: S PVP Rank: A • Blood is easily the best PVE Blood Demon Art and one of the better PVP movesets now that X has guardbreaks back • First, almost every move works like a barrage where you’re dealing excellent DPS and other players can stack M1s on top for PVE • Second, for PVP and some PVE fights, your moves combo well with extensions and M1s for a ton of pressure • Other S/A movesets have faster moves but Blood with Sickles has a higher potential for PVE with allies
Thunder Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: PVP Rank: • Like in the original Slayers, Thunder is incredibly powerful due to instant-cast moves • It just sets it so far apart from other styles for PVP since it’s very difficult to react to it • It’s also really strong in PVE and one of the best movesets in the game overall
Ice Manipulation Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: S PVP Rank: S • Ice simply has a powerful array of moves for both PVP and PVE with one of the best grabs in the game • Plus you have a powerful frame one counter, great combos and the ice rain can stack with your M1s • Great for PVE Dungeons too due to some of the best AOE ranges in the game to cover a ton of enemies
Insect Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: A PVP Rank: A • You need Kocho clan for massive single-target poison damage • Insect is similar to Thunder in that you get a lot of fast moves which are easy to chain • With barrages and Kocho you are the best boss killer in the game • Overall it’s really powerful for PVP and boss killing but worse for Dungeons since it lacks AOE

Sound Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: S PVP Rank: A • Some of the best moves for combos since almost every move has combo extension potential • Sound also has massive range for farming PVE and one of the best moves in the game with its projectiles that deal massive damage • You’re also supporting your team in PVE since some moves hold enemies in place to be hit by your allies
Snake Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: A PVP Rank: A • A strong all-rounder type that has a little bit of everything for both PVP and PVE • Amazing combo potential and mobility with its teleport and knock-up moves • Dishes out excellent damage in PVE with its barrages and bursts down bosses fast • Highly competitive in PVP but keep in mind that movesets with counters can shut down Serpent Breathing fast
Dream Manipulation Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: B PVP Rank: A • Dream is similar to Stone Breathing and Reaper where it’s great for PVP but a bit less powerful for PVE • It’s based around its stuns and a strong grab to create some of the best PVP combos in the game • It doesn’t work as well in PVE though but it’s getting better with NPC-specific damage buffs
Flame Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE/PVP Rank: Always S or at least A-Tier with Rengoku and B/C-Tier otherwise • Combine Flame with the Rengoku clan and you have an impressive PVE moveset with lots of AOE, range and burns that is A-Tier or S-Tier • That said, by itself it falls behind the higher-tiers for PVP and PVE due to slow start-up animations • It still has good guardbreak options and a strong dash move for PVP
Reaper Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: A PVP Rank: A • Reaper is versatile with PVP-oriented options with a ton of combo options and fast moves • It’s also great for PVE in groups due to the barrage where other players can M1 the boss • It’s less powerful for solo PVE but it’s really easy to find a group
Stone Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: A PVP Rank: A • An underrated and hard-to-play PVP and PVE underdog breathing style • If you can put in the time to learn it, it’s got a ton of hyperarmor, damage and range • Almost all of your attacks are uninterruptible, so it can be very aggressive and oppressive in PVP • However, you have to learn the timings since your moves are slow and essentially lock you into their animations allowing more experienced players to punish you if you just spam moves

Arrow Manipulation Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: B PVP Rank: A • Arrow got a great glow-up for PVP with Hyper Armor, a speed increase and tracking • Most importantly you can now Koketsu Arrow while stunned which is amazing defensively • Amazing zoning potential for PVP • Decent in PVE too as a boss-killer option but lacks PVE power since it has no AOE options for dungeons
Wind Breathing Slayer Breathing Style	PVE Rank: B PVP Rank: B • The long start-ups got fixed and it got a few buffs to make Wind a decent PVE options and okay in PVP • The reason it’s not higher for PVE is that some of your moves displace enemies in an awkward way which can make fights tedious • It’s not unusable but it’s more difficult to play with effectively compared to higher-tiers
Obi Manipulation Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: C PVP Rank: B • Obi got some great buffs with damage increases, guard breaks and utility fixes • It’s a nice niche PVP toolkit with a lot of mixups and combos that require practice and skill but can be viable • Sucks for PVE though
Temari Manipulation Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: B PVP Rank: A • An excellent PVE option for killing bosses with a massive damage buff for NPCs • It struggles against crowds in Dungeons due to a lack of AOE • For PVP it’s a whole other story since you have long range high damage single target moves to outzone players • It’s a very oppressive moveset if you practice it for PVP
Explosive Blood/Pyrokinesis Blood Demon Art	PVE Rank: B PVP Rank: B • Exploding Blood has some moves you can simply block and dash out of which makes it a bit awkward to play • That said, there are some high-damage moves here like the tornado if you can reliably land it that nukes bosses • The problem is that it’s not really versatile for AOE and it doesn’t have good PVP combos so while it can be good in certain situations, it’s not competitive