Combat Guide

Left Click (M1) for basic melee attack chains. Right Click (M2) for heavy attacks. TAB to summon or dismiss your Stand. E / R / Z / X / C / V for Stand abilities (E is usually Barrage, V is often the ultimate). G for fighting style abilities. F to block — reduces incoming damage but drains stamina and can be guard-broken. Press G to evade/dodge with invincibility frames (i-frames) — has a cooldown, so time it carefully. H to activate Stand Awakening (30-minute cooldown, requires completed Awakening quest). 1-9 for hotbar item selection. N for Eagle Vision — highlights NPCs (purple), enemies (red), and Bus Stops (green).

Hold F to block — this reduces incoming damage significantly but you still take chip damage (reduced by the Astute personality). Blocking drains your stamina meter. When stamina hits 0, your guard breaks and you're stunned briefly. Some moves are specifically designed as guard-breakers: Kendo Whirlwind, many Z/X abilities, and heavy attacks (M2). When you guard break an opponent, they're vulnerable — this is your window to start a full combo. The Artistic personality (Legendary) makes guard-broken enemies take +20% damage for 5 seconds. The Fearful personality (Rare) gives YOU +20% Defense for 2 seconds when your guard is broken. Perfect Blocking (blocking at the exact moment of impact) triggers the Methodical personality bonus (+20% Power + speed) if you have it.

Press G to dodge — this gives you invincibility frames (i-frames) during the animation. Each sub-ability gives a unique dodge animation: Hamon = gold flash, Vampire = red dash, Cyborg = purple phase. Human has a basic dodge with no i-frames. Dodging has a cooldown — never spam it. Time your dodge for big hits like Barrage finishers, ultimate abilities, or guard-break attempts. The Curious personality (Uncommon) gives +20% evasive gain, making your dodge available more frequently. Erratic (Common) restores 5% Power on a successful dodge. In PvP, baiting your opponent's dodge before using your combo starter is one of the most important skills to learn.

Every Stand has unique combo routes — chains of abilities that flow into each other. The basic combo structure is: Stun opener → M1 chain → Stand ability → M1 chain → Fighting style move → M1 chain → Finisher. Example for The World + Boxing + Vampire: Flash Freeze (Vampire stun opener) → M1 x3 → Barrage (E) → M1 wall splat → Hard Right → Knife Throw → M1 x2 → Boxing ability → repeat. Example for Anubis + Kendo: Kendo Whirlwind (guard break) → M1 chain → Anubis slash combo → M1 wall splat → Kendo finisher. Key principle: always start combos with a stun or guard break, and use M1 chains between abilities to maximize damage. Practice in PvE against mini-bosses before taking combos to PvP.

Bait and punish: Throw out safe pokes to bait your opponent's dodge, then use your real combo starter when their dodge is on cooldown. Spacing: Stay at the edge of your Stand's range — this lets you punish whiffed attacks while staying safe. Trade reading: Learn to predict when opponents will attack and pre-block or dodge at the right moment. Stamina management: Don't block everything — mix dodges and blocks to preserve stamina. If your guard breaks, you're dead in most matchups. Wall combos: Knock enemies into walls with M1 chains for extended combos — wall splats prevent dodging and extend your damage window. Sub-ability openers: Vampire Flash Freeze is the best combo starter in the game — it stuns the opponent and guarantees a follow-up. The best PvP Stands are The World (6-second time stop), Whitesnake (disc steal disables opponent's Stand), Weather Report (massive AoE with Frog Downpour and Heavy Weather), and Anubis (Weapon-scaling burst damage with Kendo).

Raid bosses awaken at 50% HP — they heal to full and enter a more aggressive second phase. Save your strongest cooldowns for the second phase. Bring a healer (Crazy Diamond or Golden Experience) for harder raids. Made in Heaven's speed makes it excellent for clearing raid minion waves. In DIO Raid (Extreme), coordinate with your team to burst the boss through the awakening phase as quickly as possible. For solo boss farming, Akira Otoishi at Bus Stop 14 respawns every ~1 minute and is the fastest money + Conjuration farm. When fighting The Self for Stand Awakening Mission 3, remember it copies your exact build — your Stand, fighting style, and sub-ability. Make sure all three are fully leveled before attempting. The Conjurer perk, Line Tension, and Erasure are the recommended general PvE perks. For Anubis specifically, use Play With Your Food, Resourceful, and The Blade.