Small disclaimer, Tonfas are a Frontier original weapon which got a lot of changes and evolutions during their existence. As a result, you’ll find a lot of contradictory information regarding how they work, notably regarding Styles differences and their short/long mode system. I added some “History” sections who will talk about Tonfas history in Frontier and where some of such received ideas come from. But I also can’t guarantee you everything written here is 100% accurate (only 99,99999…%)
Bases
Tonfas are the most iconic Frontier weapon we never got in the West. This is a blunt weapon able to stun monsters when you hit their head, like Hammer and HH, but with a high hit rate closer to SnS or DB, allowing them to deal huge status and element damage.
Since they arrived at the same time as Extreme Style, Tonfas are the only Frontier weapon able to run in every single Style. They can also jump in the air and use the EX and combo gauges mechanics along the ki burst one to offer you a quite rich fighting experience.
Base guide
Since there’s a high possibility you’ve never used Tonfas before, I’ll detail here the essentials Tonfa principles. Everything explained here will be shown in the Earth Style video.
Grounded combat
Despite the appareances, Tonfas moveset is quite easy. With △, you have the 5 attack base combo, the last one being chargeable. With ○, you have the 6 attack special combo. Both combo can be mixed freely while respecting the attack sequence. You can do for instance:
- Base 1, special 2, base 3, special 4, base 5, special 6
- Special 1, base 2, special 3, base 4, special 5, base 1
- Base 1, base 2, base 3, special 4, special 5, special 6
Tonfas are able to run in all 4 Styles, with △ and ○ each having their own attack to end a run.
Tonfas dodges are quick steps like DB and you can guard using R1. The guard though is rather weak and consume your sharpness so it should only be used as a last resort.
Aerial combat
Tonfas can jump in the air by pressing R1 and ×, the jump having some iframes. Once it the air, you can dodge twice using ×, initiate a 3 attack combo with △ or quickly get to the ground with ○.
Hitting the monster in the air will give you some height back, with the kicks pushing you higher. Your falling speed though increases progressively and you’ll inevitably end up landing at some point in Earth Style.
Short/long mode
Tonfas have 2 states. The long mode is active as a basis and can be triggered by pressing R1 and △. Short mode can be triggered by pressing R1 and ○.
In short mode, the last attack from the base combo becomes a small series of thrust. The running base attack becomes a small chain of quick windmill attacks. Most notably, the quick fall when in the air becomes a kick that grant you some height back if you hit the monster.
Each mode has its advantages, long mode dealing more stun damage making it better to stun monsters while short mode grants more charge for the various Styles gauges and has more hitlag making aerial combat easier. Usually players prefer the long mode.
Story time: “Short mode only deals 80% damage”
Tonfas short mode was totally broken on release. It inverted hitzones: the monster hardest part becomes its softest and vice-versa while all the other hitzones in between were recalculated. For a clear example, a hard Barroth head would become really soft while its usually soft front legs would become resistant.
Not a single weapon was able to compete with such an absurd mechanic, hence why at some point in MHF-Z, short mode was nerfed, reducing its MV and stun values to 80% (along side other nerfs).
They ended up at the bottom of the tier list until the Z2.3 patch who introduced the current system, removing the hitzone inversion mechanic and the 80% nerf and simplifying the system to “long = stun, short = charge”. Long mode still stays more popular though as the short mode hitlag indirectly reduces your dps and the gauges fill pretty quickly on high level play.
Gauges
Depending on the Style you’re using, Tonfas have various gauges. The red gauge is the Combo gauge while the blue one is the EX gauge. Both gauges charge when you hit a monster or perform a perfect dodge.
You also have a semi-circular timer at the left extremity of your gauges, the combo timer. This timer starts ticking down after each attack you land. Its consumption speed is reduced when you run, guard, jump, dodge aka when you do anything with the weapon in hand. If you hit a monster or perform a perfect dodge before it’s empty, the timer resets. If it’s fully emptied, the combo gauge is reset. Its consumption speed is increased with each segment of the combo gauge filled.
EX gauge keeps its charge, only being consumed by certain actions tied to each Style.
Ki Burst
Pressing △ + ○ grounded or midair allows you to perform a Ki Burst. This is an explosive action, not as powerful as its animation making it seems and consuming 10 sharpness units. So you’d better not spam it. Its main appeal is the Ki Resonance mechanic.
By hitting a monster with Tonfas, its parts gather ki. The energy cumulated can be seen with a green, yellow and finally red effect when the part is overcharged, the charge of each part being independant. When a part is overcharged, you can see a red aura pulsating. Triggering a Ki Burst will make the accumulated ki detonate in the part granting various effects:
- Head: for 20s, the monster is affected by a orange aura and every attack deal stun damage no matter the part it connects with or the damage type (your allies with a Long Sword or a Bow can stun the monster in this state)
- Body: nearby swordmaster restore 15 sharpness units and every nearby hunters get a temporary 25 raw buff
- Tail: the tail endures continuous slicing damage for a set period of time, these damages being able to cut the tail
- Small monsters or stun immune monsters (Lao-Shan, Yama Tsukami, Fatalis, etc) : the monster drop a shiney (the drop is based on the monster carving table)
Ki Resonance also fully recharge your gauges and locks them for around 10s, allowing you to unleash your full power. The number of parts triggering a Ki Resonance at once increases this effect duration, 2 parts granting 20s of locked gauges and 3 parts 40s.
Ki works like a status: each consecutive overcharge becomes harder and harder to trigger.
Earth Style
Earth Style only has the combo gauge. Each gauge segment grants you a 10% damage buff, all the way up to 50%.
Heaven Style
Heaven Style has the EX gauge and a special combo gauge with only 3 segments. The combo gauge here increase the EX gauge charge rate.
EX gauge can be used to perform EX dodges, dodges that can be used in 4 directions, hit the monster and have generous iframes. Side dodges can be reorientated with a second spinning motion for a quick reposition. These dodges also grant you a 5% attack buff if you manage to perform a perfect dodge with them, shown by a glow on your arms.
Ironically, Heaven Style is a grounded style. Losing the combo gauge grants you a permanent 25% attack buff on your grounded attacks as a trade-off. You also lose short mode aerial kick, reducing aerial combat mostly to evasive manoeuvers.
Storm Style
Storm Style totally lose the combo gauge, only having the EX gauge.
You lose the EX dodges, the EX gauge being used for 2 new attacks. You can now charge the second attack of the base combo, this move can also be pulled off after a dodge. By pressing R1, you can empower this charged attack using one segment of the EX gauge to perform an EX Strike. You can thus chain dodges and EX Strikes.
The other EX move is EX Boxing allowing you to unleash a continous flurry of blows, slowingly consuming the EX gauge. Your Tonfas start with a green aura, then an orange one and finally a red one. This aura allows you to unleash a special Ki Burst when you stop EX Boxing (on your own or if the gauge is empty). This Burst doesn’t trigger the usual secondary effects of a regular Ki Burst and its damage is linked to the color of your Tonfas aura when it’s unleashed. It’s also tied to the final hit of EX Bosing, meaning if you miss that last hit, you don’t get the Burst. Also note that element and status damage is nerfed to 10% during EX Boxing.
Like Heaven Style, it’s a style more based on grounded combat with a permanent 25% attack buff to your grounded moves and without the ability to use short mode aerial kick.
Extreme Style
Extreme Style fuses all 3 previous Styles while also granting you true aerial combat capabilities.
You get the Combo gauge back with all its 5 segments. Like in Earth Style, you get 10% extra damage for each gauge segment filled but also an improved EX gauge filling rate just like Heaven Style. Other specificity of Extreme Style, the gauge timer empties at a slower rate than Earth and Heaven Styles.
EX gauge can be used to perform the Storm Style Strike and Boxing moves but also the EX dodges from Heaven Style. You also get access to aerial EX dodges that can be triggered mid-air, allowing you to stay the same height while hitting. Since Tonfas get some height back when they hit the monster, aerial EX dodges can allow you to permanently stay in the air since you gain some height when they hit while preventing any loss during the move itself. Like with grounded EX dodges, performing a perfect dodge with an aerial EX dodge grants you a 5% attack buff for 15s.
Getting back the Combo gauge and its potential 50% buff disables the permanent attack buff from the 2 previous styles obviously. You also get back the short mode aerial kick and can change your Tonfas lenght midair. Ultimately, you can also perfect a midair emergency evade who propels you on a long distance, useful to disengage the monster before a powerful AoE.
Story time: “Storm Style is better for EX charged strikes”
Tonfas came out at the same time as Extreme Style, hence why they can run in all 4 Styles unlike the other weapons since their 4 Styles all came out at the same time.
As a result, the 4 Styles were more balanced (compared to the other weapons where Extreme Style is way better obviously). To enforce this balance, Extreme Style was nerfed on EX dodges, Strikes and Boxing. So Storm Style was indeed better for a fighting style centered around chaining EX Strikes.
During the Z2.3 Tonfas overhaul, these nerfs were removed, making Extreme Style the strongest option for Tonfas. Storm Style permanent 25% attack buff can easily be outperformed by 3 segments of the regular combo gauge.
Daily bonus
The Daily bonus increases the effects of Ki Burst:
- head: aura duration increased from 20 to 30s
- body: 20 sharpness units restored instead of 15 and gunner attack +50 instead of +25
- tail: 150% slicing damage
Les Carnets de la Wycadémie 