Hakuda
Hakuda is the martial-arts line of the universal skill tree, available regardless of race. Its ten documented skills form a clear progression ladder: each requires skill points plus a minimum Hakuda stat, starting at Round Kick (5 skill points, 32 Hakuda) and topping out at Spirit Breaking Cannon (12 skill points, 400 Hakuda). Every skill is upgradeable, and each upgrade level shaves a fixed amount off the cooldown - between 0.3 and 0.8 seconds per level depending on the skill.
The early and mid tree focuses on utility kicks: Dust Kick clouds the opponent's vision (and at Level 3 ignores ragdoll), Drop Kick becomes fully rotatable during windup and applies concussion with upgrades, and Breaker Fist ruptures the ground to transfer up to 25% of your posture to your opponent, scaling with upgrades. Fighters Tempo is the tree's stance tool - strike a pose to reduce your posture and make all melee attacks reduce it further, becoming uncancellable at Level 4.
The top end is where Hakuda turns violent. Tempest Combo unleashes a barrage of lefts and rights that the enemy cannot escape once hit; Ground Slam converts landing height into bonus damage (its height modifier upgradeable from 1.2x to 1.3x) and ignores crumple; and Spirit Breaking Cannon, the capstone, is an unblockable grab that drags the opponent through the floor - meeting a wall triggers a second attack combo, while open ground offers an alternate route.
Details
Skill list
Round Kick (28s CD, 5 SP, 32 Hakuda): a powerful sweeping kick; upgrades reduce cooldown by 0.4s per level. Dragonlash (30s CD, 7 SP, 56 Hakuda): a mid-range, high-stun aerial kick; -0.4s CD per level. Dust Kick (18s CD, 8 SP, 112 Hakuda): clouds the opponent's vision, dealing the kick's damage at close range; Level 3 makes it ignore ragdoll, -0.3s CD per level.
Drop Kick (28s CD, 8 SP, 144 Hakuda): a forward lunge dealing light posture damage; Level 5 makes it fully rotatable during windup, Level 6 applies concussion on hit, -0.4s CD per level. Breaker Fist (30s CD, 8 SP, 200 Hakuda): rupture the ground, then burst it to transfer up to 25% of your posture (scaling with upgrades) to your opponent; Level 4 lets the second strike hit ragdolled and crumpled opponents, -0.4s CD per level. Fighters Tempo (50s CD, 7 SP, 240 Hakuda): strike a pose that reduces your posture and makes all melee attacks reduce it; Level 4 makes it uncancellable, -0.8s CD per level.
Sweep Kick (43s CD, 9 SP, 260 Hakuda): a sweeping kick that stuns the target in place; -0.6s CD per level. Tempest Combo (42s CD, 10 SP, 300 Hakuda): a ferocious barrage of lefts and rights the enemy cannot escape once hit; -0.6s CD per level. Ground Slam (28s CD, 10 SP, 375 Hakuda): an aerial slam with bonus damage based on landing height that ignores crumple; Level 4 raises the max height modifier from 1.2x to 1.3x, -0.4s CD per level. Spirit Breaking Cannon (45s CD, 12 SP, 400 Hakuda): an unblockable grab that drags the opponent through the floor - hitting a wall triggers a second attack combo, while no wall allows an alternate combo route; -0.7s CD per level.
Community notes (Discord)
Hybrid skills (community/creator-documented): a Suplex grab is available to Strength-Hakuda builds - blockable, short range, huge startup and expensive upgrades per community posts and creator tier lists. It is not part of the 10 documented pure-Hakuda skills above; the hybrid skill list is not yet fully documented.
Patch notes (official)
Dev-confirmed, 2026-06-21 - Hakuda is compatible with Demon Light's nunchucks mode (official announcement).
Update/patch 2026-06-22 - while on Hakuda, using a Los Lobos move temporarily quickdraws the weapon for that move (official dev patch notes).
FAQ
What is the best Hakuda skill?
Spirit Breaking Cannon is the documented capstone: unblockable, drags the target through the floor, and branches into a wall combo or an alternate route - at the steepest cost of 12 skill points and 400 Hakuda.
Do Hakuda upgrades do anything besides cooldown?
Every level cuts cooldown (0.3-0.8s per level by skill), and specific levels add effects - e.g. Dust Kick ignores ragdoll at Level 3, Drop Kick gains concussion at Level 6, and Ground Slam's height modifier rises to 1.3x at Level 4.
Is Hakuda race-locked?
No - it sits in the universal skill tree alongside Strength, Speed, Misc, and Sensory, so any race can invest in it.
Why is Hakuda the default Vasto Lorde tree?
Community-documented: most Strength and Speed skills require a weapon, and weaponless Hollows (Vasto Lorde) cannot use them - Hakuda plus Kido are the only lines that work bare-handed, which several 400-650 star posts cite when asking for Vasto weapon options.
How does the community rate Hakuda in PvP?
Community-documented balance sentiment (June 2026, not official): a wave of 200-1,500-star Discord posts called Hakuda M1s nearly impossible to parry, with range comparable to swords and heavy weapons at a disadvantage even after a successful parry; video documentation records Strength/Hakuda nerfs in a subsequent balance patch.
Other skill trees
Source-checked
Compiled from community documentation and cross-checked sources; values pending in-game verification. updated · GuideDex staff. Report a correction.