Stamina is the resource that makes every other decision in these games real. Without it, attacking, blocking and dodging would all be free, and there would be no reason to choose between them. This guide covers the numbers and the one habit that prevents most stamina-related deaths.
What everything costs
The costs are consistent across the library, though the pool size varies.
The last row surprises people. Holding a guard is free; only absorbing an attack costs anything. That means raising a guard early is not itself expensive - the cost is that an early guard is a block rather than a parry.
| Action | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Light attack | 1 | The default |
| Heavy attack | 2 | Also the longest recovery |
| Spin attack | 3 | Nearly the whole bar in most games |
| Dodge | 1 | Also has a separate cooldown |
| Blocking a hit | 1 | Per hit absorbed, not per second held |
| Raising a guard | 0 | Holding costs nothing until something lands |
How the bar refills
Regeneration is about 1.8 points per second, but it does not start until roughly 0.4 seconds after your last spend.
That delay is the whole mechanic. Continuous regeneration would mean spending aggressively is nearly free as long as you are winning; a delay means a flurry leaves a real gap.
The practical arithmetic: four rapid actions empty a full bar and leave you without options for about 1.5 seconds. In a fight measured in tenths of a second, that is a very long time.
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The one-point rule
Never let the bar reach zero on purpose. Keep one point in reserve at all times.
That single point is the difference between dodging the unblockable attack you did not see coming and eating it, and maintaining it costs almost nothing - it means throwing two attacks into an opening rather than three.
It also prevents the guard-break failure mode entirely, because a guard cannot break if there is still stamina behind it. Guard breaks are the single most expensive thing that can happen to you defensively, and this rule makes them impossible.
Retreating as a stamina action
Backing out of range costs no stamina, and 1.5 seconds of retreat refills most of a bar. That makes retreat an active resource decision rather than a passive one.
It has a second benefit in duels. An opponent who follows you is an opponent walking into your reach on your timing, which is a considerably better position than fighting them on theirs.
In crowd games, retreat is less available but kiting achieves the same thing - you are moving continuously and only spending stamina on the front of the line.
Tracking the bar without looking at it
Glancing at the stamina bar costs attention you need elsewhere, and in a crowd it is frequently the glance rather than the stamina that ends the run. Most players eventually stop watching it and track it arithmetically instead.
The counting is easy because the costs are small integers. Starting from four: two heavies empties you. A spin plus a dodge leaves nothing. Four light attacks, or four blocked hits, or any mixture adding to four, does the same. Once those combinations are familiar you know roughly where the bar is without checking.
What makes this reliable is the one-point rule, because it means the arithmetic never has to be exactly right - only approximately, and in the safe direction. A player who aims to keep one point back and miscounts by one still has a bar that is not empty.
The bar as a pacing signal
Beyond limiting what you can do, the stamina bar sets the rhythm of a fight, and reading it that way is more useful than treating it as a restriction.
A full bar is the game telling you the next few seconds are yours: an opening is affordable, a heavy attack is affordable, a mistake is recoverable. An empty one is the game telling you the moment belongs to your opponent, and the correct response is almost always to disengage rather than to look for something clever.
The players who use this well tend to alternate deliberately - spend heavily into a real opening, then walk away and refill - rather than trickling stamina out continuously. A bar that hovers around half for a whole fight usually means neither the openings nor the retreats were taken properly.
Games where stamina works differently
Not everything uses the standard model. Blade Rush, Sword Runner and the timing games have no stamina at all, because their limiting resource is time rather than a bar.
Neon Blade replaces stamina with energy that is earned from kills rather than regenerating on a clock. There is a slow trickle underneath so a run can always recover, but it is deliberately too slow to live on - the aggressive line is the sustainable one.
Monster Blade and Ultimate Sword Arcade add a second resource, the blade charge, which only builds from landed hits and is spent on a single powerful attack. It is stamina's opposite: earned by success rather than spent on attempts.
Key takeaways
- Light 1, heavy 2, spin 3, dodge 1, each blocked hit 1. Holding a guard costs nothing until something lands.
- Regeneration is 1.8 per second but only starts 0.4 seconds after your last spend.
- Four rapid actions leave you empty for about 1.5 seconds.
- Keep one point in reserve at all times. It costs one swing and prevents every guard break.
- Retreating costs nothing and refills most of a bar in about 1.5 seconds.
- Neon Blade earns energy from kills instead; blade charge is earned by success rather than spent on attempts.
Frequently asked questions
How much stamina does each action cost?
A light attack and a dodge cost one, a heavy costs two, a spin costs three, and each blocked hit costs one. Holding a guard costs nothing until something lands on it.
How fast does stamina refill?
About 1.8 points per second, starting roughly 0.4 seconds after your last spend. That delay is what makes a flurry leave a real gap.
Why should I keep one stamina point back?
Because that point is a dodge, and a dodge is the only answer to an unblockable attack. It also makes a guard break impossible, which is the most expensive defensive failure.
Does retreating restore stamina?
It restores it at the normal rate, and retreating costs nothing - so about 1.5 seconds of backing away refills most of a bar while also putting you out of reach.
Do all games use stamina?
No. The runners and timing games have none. Neon Blade uses energy earned from kills instead, and Monster Blade adds a charge bar that builds only from landed hits.
How do I track stamina without looking at the bar?
Count in whole numbers from four. Two heavies empties you; a spin plus a dodge leaves nothing; any four light actions do the same. The one-point rule means the arithmetic only has to be approximately right in the safe direction.
Should I spend stamina steadily or in bursts?
In bursts, into real openings, then disengage and refill. A bar that hovers around half for a whole fight usually means neither the openings nor the retreats were taken properly.
What does an empty bar actually mean?
That the next second belongs to your opponent. The correct response is to disengage rather than look for something clever, because every option you have left costs a resource you do not have.