Square Off

Ashes of War

Hold the skill to ready the sword. Light attack gives an upward slash for 6 FP; heavy attack gives a running thrust for 8 FP. Entering and holding the stance costs no FP.

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Reference values

Type: Ashes of War
Default affinity: Quality
FP cost: 0 FP
Light follow-up: 6 FP
Heavy follow-up: 8 FP
Skill: Square Off

About this Ash of War

Hold the skill to ready the sword. Light attack gives an upward slash for 6 FP; heavy attack gives a running thrust for 8 FP. Entering and holding the stance costs no FP.

The upward slash puts heavy pressure on an enemy's raised guard. The thrust reaches farther and is useful for stance pressure, but carries you forward into the target's space.

The thrust deals Pierce physical damage, so its physical part can benefit from Spear Talisman when it catches an enemy in a counterattack window.

Technical details

Skill ID: 115
Default affinity: Quality
Armament categories: Straight Sword
Recorded affinities: Standard, Heavy, Keen, Quality, Fire, Flame Art, Lightning, Sacred, Magic, Cold, Poison, Blood, Occult
useMagicPoint_L2: 0
useMagicPoint_R1: 6
useMagicPoint_R2: 8

In-game description

This Ash of War grants an armament the Quality affinity and the following skill:

"Square Off: This skill starts with the sword held level. Follow up with a normal attack to slash upwards through enemy's guard, or a strong attack to perform a running thrust."

Usable on straight swords.

Linked equipment

Where to find

Cliff near the waterfall northwest of Worshippers' Woods

Siofra River

Starting Site of Grace: Worshippers' Woods

In eastern Limgrave, follow the Mistwood road south toward the Minor Erdtree and find the round Siofra River Well building nearby. Ride its lift down and activate Siofra River Well Depths.
Follow the river northeast past the ruins and Claymen to the next lift. Ride up, descend the slope into the open basin and activate Siofra River Bank beyond the crab.
Follow the lower river north and activate Worshippers' Woods in the stone archway. Avoid the archers' sightlines by moving between the ruined columns.
From the grace, head north-northwest through the woods toward the cliff and large waterfall. The scarab is near the edge before the upper path beside the broken arch.
Kill the scarab for Square Off, keeping clear of the drop. Lighting the eight braziers or defeating Ancestor Spirit is unnecessary.

Notes

Hold the skill to ready the sword. Light attack gives an upward slash for 6 FP; heavy attack gives a running thrust for 8 FP. Entering and holding the stance costs no FP.
The upward slash puts heavy pressure on an enemy's raised guard. The thrust reaches farther and is useful for stance pressure, but carries you forward into the target's space.
The thrust deals Pierce physical damage, so its physical part can benefit from Spear Talisman when it catches an enemy in a counterattack window.
These are weapon attacks. Their damage follows the weapon's attack power and affinity, rather than using one fixed Strength or Dexterity coefficient for every sword.
Shard of Alexander improves the skill's damage. Holding the stance is not charging an attack, so Godfrey Icon and Axe Talisman do not apply merely because you waited before the follow-up.
The stance does not block for you or make you invulnerable. Stamina recovers more slowly while holding it, so prepare the follow-up near an opening rather than staying braced indefinitely.
Can use this Ash of War on compatible Straight Swords. Fixed-skill weapons are excluded. Other sword classes cannot use it just because their name contains sword.
Its default affinity is Quality. Additional supported affinities depend on your whetblades. Choosing Heavy, Keen or an elemental affinity changes the sword's damage scaling, rather than the follow-up inputs.
The scarab is a separate transferable copy. A Straight Sword that starts with Square Off does not give you this Ash as an inventory item simply by owning that sword.