The Four Pillars of Combat

Kirito, the Black Swordsman, the Dual Blades user. Various names for a single young man able to wield two swords with amazing speed and power. His role in the story of Sword Art Online was simple. Being the chosen player, he was to act out the hero who would clear the final floor of Aincrad. Kirito would face Kayaba, creator, hero, traitor, and Demon King of SAO. Offense versus defense. Who will win? That of course is the basic plot. No one knew about the entire story. No one knew about the fall back plan. No one knew about the combat triangle and no one knew about the Four Pillars of Combat.
Of course, no one knew about the final reason for the Pillars. Kayaba was looking for more than just the story of the hero and the Demon King. Instead, he was looking for personalities, people with the right emotional and mental capability of four different types. He had sociologists, psychiatrists and researchers of all kinds identify the four basic ways someone can deal with the world. In this, he came up with the pillars. Four people have these specific mindsets that separate them from the norm. Three of them are the defining extremes and the fourth is the defining middle ground. The rest, as they say, will be shown when the time comes.
==The Story==
The biggest question to be asked in the story is the winner of the duel. Who will win between Kayaba and Kirito? Who will win between Holy Sword and Dual Blades? That is the question and that is the reason why a fallback plan was put into place. It's the players' second chance, a second life, another respawn. It was also a way to keep the story interesting, keep the roleplay intriguing. Kayaba wanted a better plot and placed in this idea to give himself something to experience. If Kirito was to fall in battle, someone had to take his place. Someone had to take charge and fight the Demon King. That someone was Sho. Night Fury, Watcher, Golden Assassin. Those are the nicknames of a certain young man wielding a bo staff. High speed and the greatest evasive capability in the game, Sho also wields the Combat Mastery skill. With this unique skill, he was to take the place of the Black Swordsman in case he would falter or fail. Of course, that was easier said than done. Anyone who knew him knew his tendencies. Sho didn't involve himself with such major problems. No, better to let others deal with the issue than get yourself involved.
From there, the combat triangle begins to form. Offense, defense, and evasion. Three extremes on the spectrum of styles. Before floor 75, one would expect a sort of mutual alliance between the three powerhouses. That didn't happen of course. Why would it? Sho wouldn't have involved himself even if he knew.
After the floor 75 incident, there is a slot missing from the triangle. Who will take Kayaba's place? The answer came in the form of Raiden. Brother of Sho, Buckler Knight and Light Guardian, Raiden is given the unique skill Steel Defense, further boosting his tank-like abilities. He takes Kayaba's place and acts as the third extreme. So once again, the triangle is complete. The next step is uniting the three into action. To be precise, the next step is uniting Sho into action. He's not one to engage first.
So who then is suitable for such a job? Who would be the one to unite the most flighty and evasive player in the game with two other players, one a loner and another a hero? This person must be a balance, a sort of counterforce between the three extremes. This player must be able to switch between offense, defense and evasion, easily and without stopping. He also has to be neutral, not taking sides, but rather working things for the betterment of others. Compromise, agreements and other counteractive measures must be the norm for such a player. Only one person can handle such things. The Scarfed Striker and the leader of the Remnants of Light, Saito is the final point in the combat triangle. Residing in the middle, Saito balances out the other three. User of the unique skill Split Blades, he is the one to unite the other threes and form the Four Pillars of Combat.
Offense, defense, evasion and counter will group together to take on the Demon King. Only together can they hope to defeat the creator of Sword Art Online.
==Fighting Styles==
The Four Pillars of Combat emphasizes specific fighting styles for all four players. Each style varies from each person with Saito bringing the ideas of the other three together. However, the extremes themselves have specific techniques that clearly define them. Each player also acquires a "Stance" buff. This buff can be turned on and off at will, turning on for an unlimited amount of time. This further defines the different pillars in their respective areas.
Each player also receives nine skills that emulate the styles of the other three pillars with three from each. Since they are not of the same pillar, the player only gets a limited amount of hits. In their own extremes, Kirito, Sho and Raiden have ultimate combos of 36-hits with Saito lagging behind at 30-hits.
===Kirito===
*Striker Stance - Increases Kirito's attack rate, attack damage, critical damage, critical hit rate and block break by 60%. He loses 80% defense, parry rate, block rate, steadiness and dodge rate.
Kirito is the strongest player in the game in terms of DPS (damage per second) and the amount that he dish out in a short amount of time. Highly offensive, he prefers to be the first to hit. Often hurling himself forwards with a dash, Kirito opens up and starts his barrage, not stopping until the enemy is completely destroyed regardless of any damage he takes on his own. The quicker he kills something, the better. His stance clearly promotes his attack capabilities but utterly destroys any sort of life preserving ability. Evasion and defense are sacrificed for a swift end with offense.
The skills that Kirito acquire easily shape him into the offensive pillar. Dual Blades allows Kirito to use his three massively powerful skills, Starburst Stream, the Eclipse and Orbital Comet. They are 16, 27 and 36 hits respectively. The speed of these attacks are extremely fast and they deal high damage. It is with Starburst Stream that the Gleam Eyes was destroyed. Kirito wiped an entire three bars of health with only 16 hits. That is powerful. His ultimate is Orbital Comet which would make the other two skills look like firecrackers compared the explosive rocket launcher that he wielded. 
Kirito's Forward Healing skill provides him with increased healing during combat and more attack damage for his sword skill combos. This emphasizes Kiritos' forward momentum and how he will constantly press onwards, reacting and slashing until the enemy fades away. His movement involves ever advancing moves, not backing away for long periods of time.
===Sho===
*Flowing Stance - Increases Sho's dodge rate, agility, movement speed and overall speed by 60%. He loses 80% attack power.
Nobody matches the pillar of evasion like Shoichi Shin, oldest brother of the Shin siblings. Always the first to leave, he is constantly on the move, changing and switching directions at a moment's notice. Having always moved quickly all his life, Sho has developed a deep rooted tendency to stay in motion, letting the problems and dilemmas of world slide off his shoulders. His fighting style reflect this very state of mind, opting to dodge an attack before even thinking of returning fire. Don't get hit first and keep moving. That is his motto. Keep on staying ahead of the attacks and you'll be fine. That is how he fights. Even the staff his mainly wields reflects this nature. Blunt and with no sharp edge, this weapon is the symbol of evasion and non-offensive tendencies. Sho would rather use the item to vault, leverage himself, parry or twirl around than directly attack. The Combat Mastery that he wields covers for lack of a bladed weapon. Although quite powerful, the skill itself requires an excessive amount of work to build up. Only with his past knowledge of six forms of martial arts can Sho even hope to figure out the methods of each new weapon. In turn, Sho combines his different martial arts into his fighting style, amplifying the lack of attack with quick jabs and strikes followed by some sort of evasive technique. With Circular Flow, Sho's evasive abilities are greatly enhanced, even giving him an entirely new martial arts style that heavily emphasizes dodge and agility. Called Rakka-ken no geijutsu (落下拳の芸術, The Art of the Falling Fist), this style is a combination of Bagua Zhang (Circle Walking) and Zui Quan (Drunken Fist). Of course he was never taught these techniques, but through careful studies and interest in the past, Sho managed to replicate a version of each style, morphing the mass into his own.
The skills that Sho have are mainly evasive based. There are offensive skills, but they pale in comparison with the other three pillars. His three skills, Whirlwind Negation, Barrier of Wind and Hurricane Evasion, all provide Sho with the buffed ability to dodge and redirect away attacks towards his body. Hurricane Evasion is his ultimate with the ability to effectively evade 36 hits.
Due to his martial arts, Sho's movements are very circular in shape. He does not directly move backwards to dodge nor does he move in either. Instead, he keeps himself on the edge of an imaginary circle with his opponent in the center. Through this method, Sho is constantly moving, making him never stand still for too long.
===Raiden===
*Horse Stance: Increases Raiden's resistance, defense, parry rate and block rate by 60%. Knockbacks, Stuns, Unbalance, Dizzy, Daze and elemental resistance fall under that 60%. He loses 80% attack power.
Raiden has always wielded a round shield ever since the beginning of Sword Art Online. It is a part of him just as the staff or the khopesh is a part of Sho and Saito. However, Raiden never set his eyes out on being a defensive player. Versed in martial arts like his brother, he tended to use Shaolin Kung Fu in conjunction wit Jiujitsu. These two powerful styles made Raiden more attack focused than defense. Once he became the leader of the Light Guardians, Raiden changed his style. He blocked and parried first, always making sure that those behind him didn't get hit. Raiden began taking hits for other people. It was after all something that he did. He always covered for Sho when the older Shin decided to be flighty. He acted as the solid rock in the whirlwind that was his brother. Constant and steady, Raiden amply takes the role of the defensive pillar. His unique Resistance skill greatly increases his defense and overall resistance. It is helped along by his Steadiness and Solidity, further increasing defense. With his new way of fighting, Raiden's stance became extremely powerful and even famous. He didn't budge and didn't give ground unless he specifically wanted to. He is now able to block almost anything thrown at him, just like his brother can dodge anything thrown at him. Although he didn't create a new style, Raiden further explored the Shaolin art, making his locks, punches, kicks, elbows, knees and various grappling moves extremely deadly. Combine that with his amazing stance and Raiden is the symbol of a knight and guardian of the people.
Raiden's skill are mainly defensive with some offensive capability thrown in. His Defensive Jam, Circular Defense and his Unmovable skills allow him to perfectly block and parry all attacks. Unlike his brother who can dodge the moves, Raiden completely negates them with his shield and sword. Unmovable itself can defend against 36 hits and literally makes him a unmovable fortress.
When Raiden fights, he mainly pushes forwards slowly and steadily, not giving up any ground he gains. He can also fight in one spot, turning and rotating like a tank's turret, dealing out punishment as he pleases.
===Saito===
*Versatile Stance - Increases Saito's parry rate, counter rate, agility, and steadiness along with attack power and attack speed by 30%.
Struck with tragedy at a young age, Saito has grown up with a mentality that differs from both Sho, Raiden and Kirito. His dad left him when he was small, providing him with several ways to deal with the situation. He can either blame his father, he can either run away or he can either justify the man's actions. At times, one option seems better than the other. It was from here that his so-called counteractive nature emerged. Instead of following one strict path of dealing with life, Saito modifies his method as he goes. If he can't properly defend, he will run and evade. If he thinks he can attack to overwhelm, then he won't defend. To him, the options are always there to solving one thing or another. He is not bound to a concrete set of ideals. So therefore he is perfect for the pillar of counter. The style he fights with shifts according the the situation. Even his skills themselves are the most versatile of the group. Split Blades allows for the use of two hands, further opening doors. Counter Force along with Versatile Step allows for increased boosts in various scenarios. Also one who had martial arts training, although not as intense as the Shins, Saito knows Muay Thai, Close Contact Karate and Taekwondo. From this knowledge, Saito created the Butai Kougeki Style (ダンスのストライキ, Dancing Strike Style). It is a sword style that was created so he could have a type of flow with his Versatile Stance. This style consists of 10 dances that he made by himself over a 30 floor period. After the rigorous training for months and continuous trial and error, Saito was able to finish use this purely original technique masterfully. Since it is an original style, only Saito can use it, people may try to copy the Butai Kougeki, but they won't get what they wished for in the beginning.
Saito's skills allow him to switch effortlessly between offense, defense, and evasion. Of the three skills, the max he gets for each separate pillar is 15-hits in evasion, attack, and defense. His ultimate Butai Kougeki [Dance 1 - Dragon's Rage] is a 30-hit combo that can vary between moves. One move can be offensive and transition to defense followed by more offense or evasion. This gives Saito plenty of options to chose from, allowing him to change styles mid-fight.
Due to his changes, Saito can move in random ways. He can push forwards to attack, move back to evade or even stand still to defend. It all depends on the situation.