The Playstyle Update — Melee Builds and 37 New Jutsu

Melee becomes a real build, nine clans get new names and full kits, and 37 new jutsu arrive, most of them played in a way no jutsu in the game was before.

Melee is a real build

You told us melee "hasn't been useful since day one", and you were right: every jutsu scaled with INT.

• 11 jutsu now scale with STR, thrown weapons among them, and 21 are STR + INT hybrids: the lightning-wreathed strikes split 50/50, and the spiralling chakra sphere family takes 40% from STR.
• STR jutsu hit with your Base Damage, the number your basic attack uses, so a better weapon raises both.
• Every damaging card shows a badge: INT, STR, or a split such as STR 40% · INT 60%. Healing stays INT.
• Playing pure INT? Thrown weapons and hybrids hit softer for you now, and a Respec Scroll (from raid chests, or 600 Crystals) refunds every point.
• Attack Speed is a new stat from Reflex: a swing every 0.8 s at RFX 50, every 0.52 s at RFX 230, with stamina per swing scaled to match.
• Every swing you see lands. Your swing starts the moment you press, and quick taps are never lost.
• Inside a Shinobi Clash, STR jutsu and Attack Speed are evened out like everything else.

Nine clans, new names, 37 new jutsu

Nine clans have new names (same clan, same bonuses), and each gets a free Level 1 signature jutsu, already in your Skill Book. Each new card's badge says how it plays: ✋ hold to charge, ✋ stance to wait, or ⛓ string for three presses on one slot.

• Ichor — Ichor Lash stacks Venom, Venom Rupture bursts every envenomed enemy, and Winding Wake poisons everyone you glide past.
• Goldthread — Taut Line carries your basic attack down a golden thread, Sixfold Snare lays six tripwires, and Gilded Constellation nets up to five enemies to share your hits.
• Shardlight — Splitting Prism splits into three rays, Facet Ward stores what it absorbs and fires it back, and Burning Glass focuses light until it burns.
• Senori, the Thousand-Fold — Unfolding Star lodges and unfolds into razor sheets, Folding Screen raises five panels that each stop one shot, and Lantern Vigil spears enemies and heals allies.
• Omoshi, the Weight-Stone Clan — Settling Stone gathers weight and crashes down, Gathering Landslide banks momentum as you walk, and Skyfall Throw hurls your target into the pack.
• Muregari, the Pack-Hunters — Three-Claw Rend marks the prey, Scentline rips it from behind, and Encircling Hunt closes in with three afterimages.
• Itohana — Thought-Seed blooms the moment an enemy acts, Recollection replays part of your damage, and Garden of Second Thoughts seeds a whole area.
• Wellspring — Halo Disc flies out and returns, Pinpoint fires a piercing needle, Orrery launches a star with each damaging jutsu, and Floodgate pours out a 10-tile beam.
• Bladesworn — Crossing Cut dashes through the pack, Held-Breath Draw answers the first enemy to step in, Horizon Cut splits a 10-tile line, and Stillpoint hits up to ×2.5 harder the lower your target's health.
• Every clan — Comet Heel, War-Drum Cadence, Cloudbreaker Drop, Anchor Chain, Starchart Seal, Afterthunder Fist, Amber Hour (a dome of slowed time) and Mirage Waltz.

New shinobi and Mastery

• At Level 2, new shinobi pick a first jutsu: Ranged (Refined Air Bullet), Close range (the spiralling chakra sphere) or Support (Medical: Heal), two ranks deep and slotted for you.
• A gold ✦ badge shows whenever you have skill-tree points to spend.
• Utility jutsu such as Transform earn 20 Mastery EXP when used in a fight, once every 20 seconds each.

Fixes you'll notice

• Midas set: ranged kunai and dash slashes no longer crit every time while Tribute is armed, and Tribute keeps its 90-second cooldown.
• Water Walking works on the river in The Glassworks raid.
• When you are stunned, sealed or caught in an illusion, your slots grey out under a padlock with the reason.
• The blow that ends an Arena or tournament bout no longer follows the loser home with its stun, burn or extras.