Magic styles are combat disciplines whose effectiveness relies on one's Spirit, rather than Body and allow the practitioner to harness the power of the elements. Magic styles are fueled by Chi and each attack uses up a small amount of it. Using Chi Strikes will empower a magic style further at the cost of even more Chi per attack.
Dire Flame and Ice Shard are the basic styles, while the advanced styles consist of Stone Immortal and Tempest.
Ogres can only be damaged by the former two, while demons are entirely immune to them all.
An important use for magic styles are harmonic combinations. In order to perform one of those, the user must first hit an enemy with a power or area attack of a magic style, whichever is correct depends on the magic style in question, and quickly follow up with a power attack of a martial style. The result is instant death for the unlucky recipient and a Health, Chi or Focus Orb for the assailant (once again, it depends). Keep in mind, however, that certain stronger enemies must first be significantly weakened for such a combination to work, whereas others are entirely immune.
Basic magic styles[]
One of these can be learned in Chapter 1. The other will become available for purchase later in the game.
Dire Flame[]
Allows the user to manipulate the element of fire. Deals fairly high damage to both single targets and groups of enemies, but offers little in the way of crowd control.
Ice Shard[]
Grants control over the element of ice. Offensively, it is the weakest of the four, but offers great crowd control by slowing enemies or outright freezing them in place.
Advanced magic styles[]
Unlike the basic styles, the player can only learn one of these in Chapter 2. They have alignment restrictions and are generally more effective in combat than the basic styles, although not drastically so.
Stone Immortal[]
Bestows command over the element of earth. The highest damage output among magic styles and reasonable crowd control make it a favorite among followers of the Way of the Open Palm.
Tempest[]
Associated with the element of air. The most balanced magic style with high damage output and very effective crowd control, a potent tool in the hands of a follower of the Way of the Closed Fist.
Performance[]
Whichever style works best depends on the player's preference, but as a general rule, the order from the most to least effective magic style is as follows: