The goal of this guide will be to help you not decide on a character but to teach you how to use every character, experiment with them, defend against them, and pick up tips you can use with any character and put together your own style with the information provided. I will update this guide when need be and feel free to ask questions below or on my profile. Going into this guide please take into account the character Pure is unfinished and is subject to change.

I'm not going to show you a picture of every characters entire move set because frankly pictures don't do it all, this part of the guide requires your own effort in stringing together every move the character has to his or her disposal and getting a feel of what the attacks look like.

During this process you need to take your time and pay attention to the following:

• How long it takes for attacks to wind up
  
• How long does it take to recover from a particular attack
  
• How does each tier change the attack
  
• How well do certain attacks string together in order to perform combos

A complete and amazing guide on weapons can be found here:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=206222972#-1

Choosing a sword is very important. Since every characters move set is different, certain weapons may only suit certain characters and play styles. Some weapons work better for some characters than others like phalanx for instence has a very good move set for a weapon like the foil where as Ryoku is focused on slashing moves which eliminates the foils pros and leaves the player simply giving himself a disadvantage. Although I strongly recomend using the guide listed above I will give a brief description of what type of play style fits swords.
A good starter weapon for players learning the game. With the ability to block and pull off a decent ammount of multi-hits. Its a very well rounded weapon for all characters.
A weapon all about pulling off combos, with faster hits and intercept for a defence to keep the attacks going, its a good weapon for highly aggresive players that are good at stringing together moves.
Being a weapon thats only defence is feinting an attacks its good for baiting opponents into attacking you with moves you can parry and do double damage on impact. The longsword is typically used by Judgement players however is viable for both Pure and Phalanx aswell.
Thrust attacks and pokes are the key to this weapon. Making it usefull for mainly phalanx players but is doable with Judgement and Pure. The foil can only pull off one multi-hit and can only guard against one multi-hit with its defence
Taking block from katana scimitar is all about long attacks with multi hits, even with heavily reduced damage the scimitar is capable of destroying players the more multi-hits connect. This weapon is usefull for all characters.


It is very important to pay attention to an opponents stance. Knowing what stance your opponent is in or identifying repetitive behavior with stances can give you a step up when planning your next strike. Try and study what certain stances are so you know how to counter them when you are faced with the challenge. Below are images of each characters stances while idle and moving. The images on the left show the stance animation while standing still and the ones on the left show the animation when moving.
Click to enlarge images

Air canceling is essentially using ground attacks in the air. When jumping there is a very small window where you can attacking is still registered as a ground move due to limitations of the source engine. I like to remember air canceling as pressing your jump button and attack button at the same time. If done properly air canceling gives you a very good tactical advantage over a player who sticks to the ground, a properly timed move can also slightly increase the ammount of multi-hits inflicted on the player.



When we talked about stances earlier this part of the guide is heavily based on your knowledge of those stances. If you don't have it down yet this is a list of what counters what:

• Fast
  
  • Air
• Balanced
  
  • Fast
    
  • Air
• Heavy
  
  • Fast
    
  • Balanced
• Air
  
  • Heavy
• Downed State
  
  • All Stances

"Counter" simply means that if your swords collide your stance "counters" the other opponents stance which allows your attack to break through their attack and possibly inflict damage, this is called a "Parry Break". A standard parry occurs when both players are using the same stance when they attack and both players get staggered.

This is what a standard parry looks like -


Below is what a parry break looks like. It is hard to tell the difference on an image but there is a slight particle difference between the two -



The importance of knowing the ranges of your own character and your opponents character is vitaly important for you success. Pay attention to how far your attacks reach, how your attacks move your player, and most of it is practice and finding out how to use attacks in unique ways. Some attacks can be used to move you around the battlefield instead of directly attacking your opponent.

Timing is extremely important to master. Something you will quickly learn is that certain attacks and moves will leave you vulnerable to get hit. Picking up on those crucial moments will help you punish that "spamming Ryoku" you're up against. The skill ceiling involves learning those key moments for yourself. Here are some small tips:
If you are being attacked by a forward "spamming" Ryoku pay attention to his string. 1, 2, 3, (slight pause) 4. during that quick pause in the string that is your change to get in a quick swipe and break out of his combo.
Judgement is left open after every single balanced and heavy attack aswell as his fast 3 move.
The rest is up for you to figure out and build up that skill so when moves change throughout development you will know how to pick up on it without assistance.

This is the most important thing to do, without practice you are not going to magically get better. No ammount of guides, tutorials, or videos are going to instantly make you some killing machine. What these guides do, do are give you the knowledge you need in order to practice. After a while all the tactics you start learning become muscle memory.


Just like myself you can find a few people around about learning the game that can help teach you the game and train to improve your skills. Ask questions, pay attention, and most importantly don't give up. Older players usually always have more experience and can help share their own tactics and tricks with you. The great thing about blade symphony is that almost everyone has their own style to fighting and most of the game is trying to figure out that style and learn how to fight against it.

Don't get discouraged by some low rank you have or have the mentality "There is no way I'm going to be him he is so much higher than me!", otherwise all you are doing is keeping yourself down and losing before the fight has even started. All rank does is look pretty under your name. Wouldn't it be more satisfying being a low rank and having the skill to beat higher ranking players? Then you can sit back in confidence while they stand there confused.