What are stances in Ghost of Tsushima?
In Ghost of Tsushima stances are a means of changing how you hold your kitana to make heavy attacks more effective against certain types of enemies. For example, you may find that, especially in the game’s early hours, it’s really difficult to take down Brutes. That’s likely because you don’t have the stance required to get the job done efficiently. A stance offers enough Stagger to make it happen.
In Ghost of Tsushima there are four fundamental stances:
Stone Stance (Unlocked Automatically): Effective against Swordsmen. Heavy attacks deal extra Stagger damage. It also adds two specific heavy attacks designed to induce Stagger. Water Stance: Effective against Shieldmen. Heavy attacks deal extra Stagger damage. You once again learn additional attacks designed to induce Stagger, this just does so to a greater degree. Wind Stance: Effective against Spearmen. Heavy attacks deal extra Stagger damage. The attacks you learn are once again upgraded for increased Stagger. Moon Stance: Effective against Brutes. Heavy attacks deal extra Stagger damage.
These base stances can then be upgraded with their own skill trees that enhance their effectiveness against their various enemy types and boosts the effectiveness of their designated attacks. These trees can be upgraded via the same Skill Points you collect by completing missions.
How to unlock stances fast
In order to unlock stances, you must kill or Observe Mongol Leaders found inside the various Mongol camps scattered across the map. Kill and Observe enough Mongol Leaders, and you’ll learn the desired stance.
Water Stance: Get three stance points. Wind Stance: Get eight stance pointsMoon Stance: Get 12 stance points.
When approaching a hideout, you should be able to denote someone as a Mongol Leader based on the attire they’re wearing. Generally speaking, as seen in this picture, they have heavier armor than everyone else in their crew.
Take them down, and a message will appear on screen to signify you’ve accomplished the task. This awards one stance point towards the above-listed total.
How to Observe Mongol Leaders
While it’s possible to get one stance point by killing a Mongol Leader in the heat of combat, you can get an additional point by Observing them first.
This requires sneaking into your chosen camp via a busted wall or other stealth-favoring shortcoming and searching the area for the Mongol Leader before doing anything else. It helps to use your stealth vision to locate the Mongol Leader. They’re typically found separated from the other soldiers practicing their swordplay.
When you get close enough to a Leader when in a stealth state, press R2 to “Observe leader” until the meter fills. Just do this once then kill them, and you’ll get two points toward learning your stance instead of one. Especially in the early hours, Observing Mongol Leaders is the fastest way to get all the main stances. If you need any additional help, check out the clip above courtesy of Gaming Fight Club on YouTube.
What’s the best stance?
The type of stance you want to roll with by default can somewhat depend on your playstyle, but generally speaking, the Water Stance tends to be the most balanced option of the bunch. Its Flurry Strike inflicts a good amount of Stagger and damage if timed correctly, and it becomes even more powerful with upgrades. Your heavy attacks may be a little slower with Water Stance, but you’ll be more effective against a wider range of enemy types. The default Stone Stance also isn’t too bad as a default as long as it’s upgraded.
What about Ghost Stance?
You may have encountered gameplay footage of the very powerful Ghost Stance, but it doesn’t unlock like the others. Instead of just killing or Observing Mongol Leaders, Ghost Stance is unlocked by beating the Yarikawa Stronghold story mission in Act II. You can’t miss it, so don’t worry too much about your progress.
Once unlocked, the Ghost Stance is charged up by getting kills and unleashed by clicking in your thumbsticks. It’s essentially a rage mode that can be chained together to get one-hit kills on just about everybody. A skilled swordsman can use it to devastating effect. That’s all you need to know about stances in Ghost of Tsushima.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now on PS4.
What is your chosen stance in Ghost of Tsushima? How many Mongol Leaders have you killed? Tell us in the comments section!
