Guides › Thornblade guide: Sword Dance, Thorny Defense and forms
What does Thornblade's Thorny Defense do?
Thornblade's counter skill Thorny Defense, part of its standard kit rather than exclusive to its Prismana form, puts it into a defensive stance that reduces damage taken by 20% and counterattacks enemies who strike it, and being attacked at the moment the skill activates raises its Critical Rate by 30% for 15 seconds; its cooldown is thought to be 6 seconds but is unconfirmed.
Every skill activation awards one Sword Dance stack, empowering basic attacks.
Because Thornblade functions as a physical damage dealer with a base attack stat of 121, landing the counter feeds directly into its primary damage rotation. The stance mitigates incoming hits while forcing an immediate counterattack against attackers.
Triggering the 30% critical strike chance increase requires precise timing. You must take a hit at the exact moment of activation rather than holding the defensive posture early.
Kit availability across forms
Thorny Defense is not limited to the standard Grass-element build. Thornblade Thunderstorm uses the skill in combat alongside its Grass and Electric typing, and Prismana Thornblade retains access to the counter within its Grass and Water dual typing.
The Aniimo has four catalogued forms in total: Basic, Prismana, Thunderstorm, and Towerwood.
Not settled: The duration of the 30% critical strike buff is not settled yet, lasting 10 seconds in some combat instances and 15 seconds in others. The 6-second cooldown is also not settled across every variant.
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From the closed beta, not measured. How measured figures work, and why this is not one