Slayer 2 V0.25 Update: Nightfall Armor Penetration and Balance

What changed in V0.25

V0.25 changes how Nightfall gear works against players, reduces part of Firstlight’s defensive bonuses, buffs several Demon Arts in PvE, and adjusts a wide range of skills and clans. The patch was posted on October 10, 2026; the October 11 hotfix made its PvP changes apply correctly in normal PvP too.

Choose your build for the mode you actually play. Armor Penetration only helps against players, while the Arrow, Cryokinesis and Pyrokinesis damage buffs below are specifically for NPCs and bosses. Older V0.2 rules labelled Ranked-only remain separate from this patch’s broader PvP changes.

Nightfall Armor Penetration and Firstlight defenses

Nightfall now provides Armor Penetration: it ignores a portion of another player’s Damage Reduction Factor. It does not apply to NPCs or bosses. Each Nightfall Top and Bottom gives 10%, while the Mask and Cape give 2.5% each. With all four pieces at T3, the total is 32.5%.

Firstlight Top and Bottom each have 3.5% Damage Reduction Factor instead of 5%, and 2% Max Health Factor instead of 3%. Their T2 and T3 multipliers still apply. Firstlight T1 crafting is available only in Ouwigahara, even if its entry is visible in Ouwland.

For Tower runs, do not choose Nightfall just for Armor Penetration: that particular stat has no effect on your NPC targets. Consider the rest of the item’s stats and your build instead.

• Nightfall Top: 10% Armor Penetration.
• Nightfall Bottom: 10% Armor Penetration.
• Nightfall Mask: 2.5% Armor Penetration.
• Nightfall Cape: 2.5% Armor Penetration.
• All four Nightfall pieces at T3: 32.5% total.

PvE damage buffs

Three Demon Arts received damage increases against NPCs and bosses. These are useful changes to consider when comparing farming or Ouwigahara setups; they do not mean the same damage increases apply in PvP.

• Arrow: all skills deal 20% more damage to NPCs and bosses.
• Cryokinesis: all skills deal 20% more damage to NPCs and bosses.
• Pyrokinesis: C deals 75% more damage to NPCs and bosses.

Weapon and fighting-style changes in all modes

These changes affect skill behavior rather than only a single matchmaking mode.

• Blood Manipulation: V’s spin deals 25% more block damage.
• Shockwave: Z and C have 10% less damage scaling and 10% more block damage.
• Gauntlets: C knockdown is now 1 second, down from 1.6 seconds.
• Soryu: Z knockdown is now 1.2 seconds, down from 1.6 seconds, including against bosses.
• Tai Chi: Twin Harmony (X) no longer leaves its extra one-second action lock after the finisher.
• Soyama: Bell Splitter’s slow lasts 5 seconds instead of 3.

Clan changes: Uzui, Douma, Kocho and Rengoku

Uzui’s Vital Draw scales with your maximum stats now. Heart heals 10% of Max Health instead of a flat 150. Lungs grants 30% of Max Stamina for 15 seconds and restores that amount. Musical Score records for 14 seconds instead of 6; this is its recording window, not its cooldown.

Douma’s Extrasensory Perception now has a 60-second cooldown and dodges two attacks instead of three. Speed and Reflex also has a 60-second cooldown.

Kocho’s Viral Decay starts at 1.5% of Max Health per second, grows by 0.75% per tick, and caps at 3.75%. Rengoku’s aura deals 1.6% of Max Health per second instead of 2%; the Rengu boss’s phase-two aura deals 0.8% instead of 1%.

PvP changes and the normal-PvP hotfix

The October 11 hotfix confirms that V0.25’s PvP changes also apply in normal PvP. Do not treat the entire list as Ranked-only, and keep the explicit Arrow C mode difference below.

• Arrow: Z’s rock explosion respects block and deals 3 block damage. X cannot be used while stunned. C deals 25% less block damage, with a 15-second normal-PvP cooldown and an 18-second Ranked cooldown.
• Kamado: Regenerative Adrenaline has a 60-second PvP cooldown and heals 30% less. Headbutt’s knockdown is 1.5 seconds.
• Reaper: Reaping Slashes (Z) has a 16-second PvP cooldown, up from 13 seconds.
• Soyama: the stored-damage conversion in PvP is ×0.07 instead of ×0.1.
• Tamari: Z deals 0.75 block damage per ball and 4.5 for the barrage. C deals 3 block damage instead of instantly breaking guard.
• Water: during Dead Calm’s cutscene, only the caster can hit the trapped target.

Recent loadout, Ouwigahara and progression improvements

Auto Loadout lets you select a loadout for each supported world or mode. Choosing None keeps your current setup. Muzan Blood now refunds points spent in the Breathing skill tree when you use it.

Ouwigahara has an Auto Skip Wave option and unlimited pause time. Reshuffle no longer offers downside cards: Pacifist, Glass Cannon, Featherweight, Focused Mind, Heavy Hitter, Thick Blood, Forbidden Art and Twin Souls.

Token shopping and exchanges take place in Normal Ouwigahara. The NPC at the end of a Roguelike run can take you there. See the Tower guide for token milestones, rewards and a run strategy.