Hand Fighter roster guide: every fighter and how to beat the Arcade ladder
Every fighter in Hand Fighter is built from three numbers: a speed multiplier, a power multiplier and a health pool. Nothing is hidden, so this guide lists them plainly and explains what they mean when a fist is coming at you.
The six fighters
| Fighter | Speed | Power | Health | Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaze | 1.12 | 1.00 | 100 | Balanced striker. Slightly quick, hits normally, average health. |
| Frost | 0.95 | 0.90 | 120 | Tank. Slow and soft-hitting, but takes a fifth more punishment than anyone else. |
| Volt | 1.35 | 0.82 | 88 | Fastest in the game. Weak punches and the smallest health pool. |
| Onyx | 0.88 | 1.28 | 96 | Heavy hitter. The slowest fighter, but every hit lands like a truck. |
| Kira | 1.25 | 0.88 | 92 | Agile duelist. Nearly as fast as Volt with a little more health. |
| Sensei | 0.98 | 1.15 | 108 | Old master. Above-average power and health at ordinary speed. |
Speed affects how fast the fighter walks and closes distance. Power multiplies the damage of every punch and kick. Health is the bar at the top of the screen; a round ends when it empties or when the timer runs out and the fuller bar wins.
Who should you pick?
New players do best with Blaze. Nothing about him needs a plan. If you keep getting hit, take Frost: the extra health forgives mistakes and the CPU tends to over-commit against a fighter that refuses to fall. If you like to control the pace, Volt or Kira. Both can walk in, land two hits and walk out before a slow opponent turns around, but a single mistake against Onyx costs a third of their bar. If you play patiently, Onyx. Block, wait for the whiff, punish once. Two punishes end most rounds.
Sensei is the best all-rounder on paper: near-Blaze speed, near-Onyx power, Frost-like health. He is the reward at the end of the Arcade ladder and the fighter to bring to online matches when you don't know who your opponent will pick.
The Arcade ladder
Arcade puts you through all six fighters in a fixed order, and the CPU gets smarter as you climb:
- Frost on Easy
- Volt on Easy
- Kira on Normal
- Blaze on Normal
- Onyx on Hard
- Sensei on Hard
Lose once and the run is over. On portal versions a continue can be earned by watching an ad; on our own site the ladder simply restarts, which is why it pays to understand what the difficulty levels actually change.
What Easy, Normal and Hard really do
The CPU is not given more health or damage on Hard. It is given better reflexes and better habits. On Easy it re-evaluates its plan roughly every fifth of a second, blocks about 15% of the time it could, and attacks at half aggression. On Normal it thinks twice as often, blocks 40% of the time and attacks at full aggression. On Hard it thinks about every sixteenth of a second, blocks 60% of the time, attacks at 135% aggression and jumps more.
The practical difference: on Easy you can walk in and mash. On Normal you have to wait for the block to drop. On Hard the CPU will punish a whiffed kick almost every time, so the fight becomes about baiting it. Throw a punch just outside range, let it react, then step in.
A plan for each stage
- Frost (Easy): she barely blocks and has a lot of health. Keep hitting. This stage exists to teach the gestures.
- Volt (Easy): fast but fragile. Block when he approaches, then punch. Three clean hits end it.
- Kira (Normal): the first opponent who blocks. Kicks reach further than punches; use them to open her up, then follow with a punch while the block is down.
- Blaze (Normal): a mirror of a good player. Don't jump; jumping in gives a Normal CPU a free hit. Trade on the ground and keep your health lead into the timer.
- Onyx (Hard): the stage most runs die on. His power means two hits cost you what four cost him. Stay out of range, let him swing, step in for one hit, step out. Patience wins this in about ninety seconds.
- Sensei (Hard): the full package. Everything from the Onyx fight applies, but he is faster, so the window after his whiff is shorter. Kicks are your friend here because their range keeps you outside his punch.
Gestures that work under pressure
By stage five your hand will be tired, and tired hands make half-shapes that the camera can't read. Two habits help: hold each gesture for a beat instead of flicking, and drop back to an open palm between attacks so the tracker always has a clean reference. If you play on a phone, the on-screen buttons are perfectly legitimate for the Hard stages. The hand tracking guide has the full setup notes.