Wiki / Basics
Stamina and the empty-bar recovery
The gold bar: what drains it, what fills it, and what happens when it runs out.
Status: Built · Last checked: 14 Nov 2026
Stamina is your hero's breath: the gold bar next to your damage number. Attacks, guards and skills draw on it. A staff uses a blue magic bar that follows the same rules.
The short version
- Swinging at nothing is expensive.
- Landing hits is cheap.
- Only well-timed play gives stamina back: a perfect chain or a perfect guard.
- Standing still for a moment refills it slowly.
What moves the bar
| What happens | The bar |
|---|---|
| An attack that hits nothing | Drops a lot (a heavy more than a light) |
| An attack that hits | Drops a little |
| A hit pressed on the weapon's blink (a perfect chain) | Costs nothing and gives a little back |
| A perfect guard | Gives a good amount back |
| Blocking a hit | Drops, more for a stronger hit |
| Being hit | Drops, more for a heavy hit |
| Shield bash, back dodge, skills | Each has its own price |
| Super sprint | Drains slowly while held |
| Doing nothing | Refills, a moment after the last cost or hit taken |
When the bar is empty: recovery mode
The bar turns grey and hatched, with a "!". A recovery meter fills in its place.
| While recovering | What changes |
|---|---|
| Your attacks | Much weaker, but just as fast as usual |
| Skills, shield bash, back dodge, super sprint | Not available |
| Running | A little slower |
| The ultimate | Still works, at the same weakened strength |
| Getting out sooner | Land hits, or make a perfect guard |
| Getting out later | Every hit you take sets the recovery back a little |
| When it ends | The bar comes back in colour, partly filled |
How to use this
- Do not swing in the air: wait until you are in reach.
- When your bar is low, step back and rest for a moment.
- If you are empty, keep landing light hits: it is the fastest way out.
Why it is built this way
- Missing is what gets punished, so aim matters.
- An exhausted fighter's attacks stay fast, so landing hits is always a real way out.
- One hit can never push recovery back to zero, so the fighter who is ahead cannot keep the other exhausted for the whole match.
Nerd section: the exact numbers
Every fighter has one bar from 0 to 100.
What moves the bar, exactly
| What happens | Stamina |
|---|---|
| A light attack that hits nothing | −10 |
| A heavy attack that hits nothing | −22, growing to −30 when fully loaded |
| The Leaping cut that hits nothing | −14 |
| A light attack that hits | −3 |
| A heavy attack that hits | −6 |
| A perfect chain hit that lands | costs nothing, +4 |
| A perfect guard | +20 |
| Blocking a hit | −4 for each percent of the hit's damage, at least −8 |
| Blocking a sprint tackle | −30 |
| Being hit by a light | −4, and −1.5 for each percent of its damage |
| Being hit by a heavy | −6, and −2.5 for each percent (−3.5 when it was fully loaded) |
| Shield bash | −10 when it starts, hit or miss |
| Back dodge | −12 |
| Super sprint | −4 per second while held |
| Fire bolt / Hush / Mend | −12 / −20 / −25 |
| Doing nothing | +8 per second, starting 1.5 seconds (90 frames) after the last cost or hit taken |
Other weapons have their own prices (a staff's shards, a bow's arrows, a sidestep): see each weapon's page. For every guard, a blocked small shot costs at least 4, not 8.
Recovery mode, exactly
| While recovering | Value |
|---|---|
| Attacks | 40% of their damage and launch (never less than 1% damage), just as fast as usual |
| Skills, shield bash, back dodge, super sprint | Not available. The one exception is the skill Overcharge, which works with the bar empty and ends recovery mode (see the seven newer Arts) |
| Running | A little slower |
| The ultimate | Still works, at the same weakened strength |
| Recovery when doing nothing | 4 seconds (240 frames) from empty |
| A light that lands | Shortens it by a fifth |
| A heavy that lands, or a perfect guard | Shortens it by two fifths |
| Being hit | Sets it back, by at most a fifth per hit and at most a third within two seconds |
| When it ends | The bar comes back in colour at 40 out of 100 |
History
Since 13 Nov 2026 a hit that lands costs a little and gives nothing back; only a perfect chain gives back; ordinary hits refill the bar only when it is empty (by shortening recovery mode).