Stance

*If in search of stance for Guard Mode, see the Art of Battle page.*
Stances refer to a special mode a Hero can enter while in Guard Mode, granting some special advantage or a new set of combos when using the stance. This either grants the Stance user access to moves they cannot use from neutral, offers them a means to continue their combo outside the use of Chains, or change the flow of how they would fight. Because of how iconic they are, For most Heroes, their Stance is a necessary part of the Hero's kit to master in order to maximize on their strengths.

Typically, using a stance leads to trading offense or defense for the other. Full Block Stances tend to offer defensive options in trade of limited to no offensive capabilities outside counterattacks, while Augmented Stances tend to lean towards giving a plethora of offensive options while leaving themselves vulnerable defensively. Step Back Stances tend to give a temporary defensive window via their start-up I-frames, but otherwise are typically used in accessing certain offensive options while dropping their guard.

For the sake of clarity, only moves that function like a stance and are stated as being a "Stance" will be counted as a Stance. All other Stance-like moves can be found in the "pseudo-stance" section below.

## Heroes with Stances

* Conqueror
* Black Prior
* Warlord
* Highlander
* Varangian Guard
* Nobushi
* Aramusha
* Kyoshin
* Jiang Jun
* Shaolin
* Medjay
* Ocelotl

### Step Back

Stances that are a *Step Back* give the Hero a dodge property during their start-up; this property is often attributed to them being a "hidden stance." While being held, the Hero has access to a different set of attacks they cannot use from neutral, but they are vulnerable to attacks as they are unable to perform most defensive moves such as blocking, parrying or counter-guardbreaking in this Stance.

 Nobushi: Hidden Stance
Entering the stance costs stamina, but will not consume more thereafter. Stamina regeneration will resume shortly after entering the Stance.
 Jiang Jun: Sifu's Poise
Sifu's Poise does not consume stamina and is able to be accessed even during exhaustion, allowing him to recover from exhaustion more conveniently than any Hero.
 Ocelotl: Hunter Stance
Entering the stance costs stamina, but will not consume more thereafter. Stamina regeneration will resume shortly after entering the Stance.

### Full Block

Stances that are a *Full Block* give the Hero the ability to block attacks from all angles without needing to pull their guard in any of those directions. By default, these Full Block Stances have superior block properties unless noted. All of these Stances has a means to perform special counterattacks either by blocking an incoming attack or, in the case of Black Prior, perform a special timed move that will initiate a counterattack if successful in intercepting.

Warlord, Black Prior and Kyoshin are able to cancel out of Full Block with their own sets of attacks: Warlord still has access to his normal chain starters, while Black Prior and Kyoshin has access to special attacks that can only be initiated from their Stance.

Blocking in these Stances used to consume additional Stamina, but had been removed overtime. It was fully removed by the midseason patch of Year 6 Season 4.

### Augmented

Stances that are *Augmented* primarily change the Hero's accessible combos. A Hero enters these stances by holding one of the attack buttons, causing their weapon to glow with a wispy magenta visual effect.

As a trade off, Augmented Heroes tend to have a trade-off between their two Stances, where one is less defensive than the other (Highlander and Shaolin's Augmented stance being unable to parry or block, for example). Therefore, using augments require a conscious process of decision making for which stance to use at what time.

Uniquely, Augmented Stances feature their own in-battle Emotes that override the Heroes' set Emotes.

 Highlander: Attack Form
The Highlander exits this stance by attacking without holding the Heavy Attack button, cancelling it or when he is hit.
 Shaolin: Qi Stance
The Shaolin exits this stance upon attacking from the stance, cancelling it or when he is hit. While held, his Stamina regeneration is paused.
 Medjay: Dual Stance
Unlike the other Augmented Heroes, Medjay will maintain his defensive capabilities in Axe mode and won't return to Staff mode if he is hit or is out of Stamina; only when he exits Guard mode or performs an Execution will he be forced to return to Staff mode.

## Pseudo-stances

Some Heroes have what looks like, technically functions like or is called a stance, but does not fit the criteria to be considered an actual stance.

Heroes with Pseudo-stances are the following: