If you're jumping into the game for the first time, figuring out your project slayers breathing style is easily the most important choice you'll make. It's not just about looking cool while you swing a sword—it's the difference between getting flattened by a low-level boss and actually holding your own in a PvP fight. This game doesn't really hold your hand when it comes to picking a style, so you've got to know what you're getting into before you drop your hard-earned Wen.
Choosing a breathing style is basically picking your character class. Each one has a totally different rhythm, and what works for your friend might feel clunky to you. Whether you want to be a speed demon zipping across the map or a heavy hitter who melts health bars, there's a style that fits how you play.
Getting Started With Your First Style
Before you can even think about using those flashy moves, you need to be at least level 12. It's a bit of a grind early on, but it goes by fast if you're hitting the right quests. Once you hit that mark, you'll need to scrounge up 5,000 Wen. This is usually where new players get stuck, but hitting the Zapiwara Mountain area or doing some delivery quests can help you bank that cash pretty quickly.
Each trainer is tucked away in a different corner of the map. You can't just talk to them and magically get your powers, though. You've got to prove you're worth their time. This usually involves a series of mini-games like splitting a boulder, pulling a heavy rock, or meditating. Some of these are actually kind of tricky if you aren't used to the timing, but they're a rite of passage for anyone serious about project slayers breathing.
The Most Popular Breathing Styles
There are a handful of styles available, and the developers are always tweaking things, so the "meta" shifts every now and then. But the core feel of these styles usually stays the same.
Water Breathing: The Reliable Choice
Water is often the go-to for beginners, and for good reason. Sakonji Urokodaki trains you in this, and the moveset is incredibly balanced. It has great combos and a lot of "stun" potential, which is perfect for PvE. If you're struggling to time your attacks against mobs, Water's fluid movements make it a lot easier to chain hits together without leaving yourself wide open.
Thunder Breathing: Speed Above All
If you want to be the guy who ends a fight before it even starts, Thunder is where it's at. Based on Zenitsu's style, this one is all about high-speed dashes and teleport-style strikes. It's a monster in PvP because it's so hard for other players to track your movement. Just be careful—if you miss your initial burst, you can get punished pretty hard.
Flame Breathing: Raw Power
Flame is exactly what you'd expect: loud, flashy, and devastatingly strong. It's one of the best styles for raw damage output. The moves have a decent area of effect (AoE), which makes it great for clearing groups of enemies. If you like seeing big numbers pop up on your screen, head over to the trainer at the Abyss.
Insect Breathing: Death by a Thousand Stings
Insect breathing is a bit unique because it focuses on poison damage. Instead of just hitting someone for a chunk of health, you're applying a status effect that ticks away over time. It's great for wearing down bosses or frustrating opponents in PvP who think they've escaped only to drop dead seconds later.
Moving Beyond the Basics
Once you've picked a style and mastered the basic moves, the real fun begins. You can't just spam your buttons and expect to win against higher-level players. You have to learn the "Breathing Bar" management. Every move consumes a bit of your breath, and if you run out in the middle of a combo, you're sitting duck.
Learning when to back off and recharge is a skill in itself. Most people just hold the charge button and hope for the best, but the pros weave their recharges into the natural gaps of a fight. It's all about that flow.
Mist and Wind Styles
Mist breathing is a personal favorite for many because of its "obscurity." It has moves that literally hide your character or make it hard for enemies to lock onto you. It's very technical but super rewarding once you get the hang of it. Wind, on the other hand, is all about mobility and verticality. It lets you stay in the air and dive-bomb enemies, which is a nightmare for people using ground-based styles.
The Grind for Sun Breathing
We have to talk about the elephant in the room: Sun Breathing. This is the "endgame" of project slayers breathing. It is incredibly difficult to get, requiring high levels and a lot of patience. It mimics the moves of Tanjiro and is arguably the strongest style in the game for both PvE and PvP.
However, don't feel like you're "losing" if you don't have it yet. A player who is really good with Water or Thunder can still beat a Sun user who doesn't know what they're doing. It's more about your mastery of the mechanics than just having the rarest style.
Why Aesthetic Matters
One thing people don't talk about enough is how the style looks. Since you're going to be spending dozens, if not hundreds, of hours looking at these animations, you should pick something you actually like looking at.
The blue trails of Water, the yellow sparks of Thunder, or the deep reds of Flame—the visual feedback is part of the fun. If you hate the way Insect breathing looks, you're going to get bored of the grind regardless of how "strong" it is in the current update.
Tips for Leveling Your Breathing
Once you have your style, you need to level it up to unlock all the moves. This usually means using your moves repeatedly or doing specific training tasks.
- Find a good farming spot: Areas with high-density mobs that you can one-shot are your best friend.
- Don't ignore your stats: Your breathing moves scale with your "Breathing" and "Strength" stats. If you put all your points into health, your fancy moves will hit like a wet noodle.
- Practice your M1 combos: Most people forget that your basic sword swings (M1s) are the bridge between your breathing moves. A good combo usually goes M1, M1, M1, then a breathing skill, then more M1s.
So, Which One Should You Pick?
If you're still sitting on the fence, I'd suggest starting with Water or Flame. They are straightforward, powerful, and let you learn the game's mechanics without too much stress. As you get more Wen and better at the game, you can always use a breathing reset to try something else.
The beauty of project slayers breathing is that it's not a permanent prison sentence. You can experiment. Try Thunder for a week, and if the high-speed gameplay makes your head spin, switch it up. Just remember that every time you switch, you've got to do the training and the Wen grind all over again, so don't be too indecisive.
At the end of the day, it's all about how you want to play. Do you want to be the fast guy, the strong guy, or the sneaky guy? Once you answer that, your choice becomes a lot easier. Just get out there, find your trainer, and start swinging that sword. The grind is long, but hitting that final move for the first time makes it all worth it.