Werewolf The Apocalypse – Earthblood: Crinos Stances Guide

While in the bloodthirsty Crinos form, whose sole purpose is combat and ripping apart the waves of enemies that confront you, there are two fighting styles you can employ. These styles – or ‘stances,’ as they’re called in-game – are the Agile stance and Heavy stance.

Each stance comes with a unique set of mechanics and special abilities to mix up how you massacre the masses of Endron soldiers. Switching between stances in-fight does not affect your current rage or frenzy meters, so feel free to constantly flick between them by using R2/RT on consoles to get the best combat experience out of the Crinos.

In this article, you can find everything that you need to know about Crinos’ Heavy stance and Agile stance, including the differences between the two and the abilities that you can unlock for each.

Crinos’ Agile stance

During fights, the Agile stance favours speed and manoeuvrability, giving the Crinos the chance to get up close and personal with the enemy more effectively than with the Heavy stance. As well as this increase to speed, the Agile stance increases the rate at which Rage is generated, allowing you to use more special abilities while in combat.

Along with greater speed and Rage generation, the Agile stance has a different combo style to its Heavy counterpart. Chaining light and strong attacks together creates a combo, but in the Agile stance, chaining two strong attacks will end the combo, interrupting the Crinos’ fluid slashes.

Agile stance special moves

These are the special moves that the Agile stance possesses in combat, specialising in closing the distance between enemies and dodging incoming attacks. Each special move will consume Rage, depleting the metre by one segment with every use.

• Leap: Hold L2/LT + Square/X to leap onto the targeted enemy, raining death from above on your opponents.
• Healing: A key move in the Crinos’ arsenal of abilities: hold L2/LT + X/A to partially heal the Crinos. This move also depletes Rage, so keep an eye on how low both your health and Rage become during prolonged fights. Another thing to be aware of is attacks that use silver, permanently limit your health for the remainder of the fight. This move is available in the Heavy stance as well.
• Roar: Hold L2/LT + O/B to unleash a roar that knocks down surrounding enemies, giving you some breathing room in those overwhelming situations. It costs one Spirit Point to unlock this special move in the skill tree.
• Dance of the Wind: Another special move that you unlock in the skill tree, Dance of the Wing costs four Spirit Points to acquire. Hold L2/LT + Triangle/Y for the Crinos to unleash multiple rotary and unstoppable attacks, hacking and slashing everything in its path.

The abilities can be upgraded in the skill tree by spending your Spirit Points; it also has some handy buffs for the overall Agile stance as well.

Agile stance skill tree

As you gain more Spirit Points while playing, there are several things that you can spend them on to enhance Cahal’s overall abilities. Within the skill tree is a section of skills that purely boost the Crinos and its Agile stance.

Starting at the top of the skill tree, these are the Aglie skills and how they can increase the killing potential of the stance.

• Roar: The Roar costs one Spirit Point and unlocks the special move to use in combat, knocking down surrounding enemies.
• Hunters Haste: This skill costs one Spirit Point and generates more Rage and more Fury on successful hits while in the Agile stance.
• Heart of Fury: Located below Hunter’s Haste, this skill costs two Spirit Points and will grant a further increase to Rage and Fury when the Crinos’ health is low. This allows you to gain Rage and either go defensive to heal or finish off the remaining enemies with your special moves.
• Howl of the Wyld: Located below the Roar skill, this skill will cost you two Spirit Points, increasing the area effect of the Roar and inflicting damage when using it.
• Heavy Leap: This skill is located to the left of the Howl of the Wyld skill and costs two Spirit Points. It enhances the Leap special move, inflicting damage upon landing, which affects enemies nearby.
• Dance of the Wind: The last skill in the Agile set will cost you four Spirit Points, unlocking the final special move in the Agile stance’s arsenal. It allows the Crinos to unleash multiple rotary and unstoppable attacks, dealing a lot of damage to the victims around you.

Now you know all of the advantages of using the Agile stance, how it excels in dodging, bringing the fight to Endron, and what skills you can unlock to buff this speedy version of the monstrous Crinos.

Crinos’ Heavy stance

Where the Agile stance increases the speed and dexterity of the Crinos, the Heavy stance is a pure tank, excelling in dishing out damage but also being more resilient when soaking up the attacks dealt.

The increase to damage and resilience comes at the price of slower, clunkier movement in battle. Still, with the switch between stances coming without a cost, a good tactic is to get amongst the enemy by using the Agile stance and then switch to the Heavy stance to obliterate everything around you.

While chaining together a combo in the Heavy stance, a single strong attack will end the combo, dealing a ferocious strike from the Crinos.

Heavy stance special moves

These are the special moves that you can utilise while in the Heavy stance, enhancing the damage and the ways that the Crinos slaughters enemies in its hard-hitting form.

Every time a special move is used, it will deplete a bar of Rage. So, be aware of how much you have stored and what ability you choose to employ in situations.

• Razor: The Crinos unleashes a powerful gust of wind with a swipe of its claws, inflicting damage upon enemies. Hold L2/LT + Square/X to use the only ranged attack of the Heavy stance. It can be very effective at buying some time, allowing you to deal with the enemies directly in front of you when used on foes further afield.
• Healing: Useable by both Heavy and Agile stances, hold L2/LT + X/A to use this ability; it restores part of the Crinos’ health bar and is exceptionally useful in tough spots.
• Rush: The Crinos will rush forward, slashing everything in its way. Rush costs one Spirit Point in the Heavy skill tree. Hold L2/LT + O/B to use this ability: it’s best deployed when faced with many enemies lined up in front of you.
• Balor’s Grasp: The final skill that the Heavy stance possesses will cost four Spirit Points in the skill tree. When used, the Crinos will inflict damage and knockdown all enemies before him. Hold L2/LT + Triangle/Y to use this terrifying area damage ability.

The Heavy stance abilities can be upgraded in the skill tree by spending your Spirit Points – you can also unlock some useful buffs for the overall Heavy stance too.

Heavy stance skill tree

While playing the game, you will earn Spirit Points to spend on upgrades in the skills section of the menu. You’re able to upgrade a host of areas to increase the abilities of Cahal, but specifically, you can enhance the skills of the Heavy and Agile stances.

Starting at the top of the Heavy stance skill tree, these are the upgrades that you can unlock to increase the performance of the Crinos in battle.

• Rush: Costs one Spirit Point and unlocks the special move for the Heavy stance to use in combat, with the Crinos rushing forward and slashing everything in its way.
• Strength of Will: To the left of the Rush ability is the Strength of Will skill, which will cost two Spirit Points. This skill reduces the damage that the Crinos receives in the Heavy stance, and upgrades the health bar of the Crinos.
• Protection of Gaia: Located below the Strength of Will skill, costing three Spirit Points. While in the Heavy stance, this skill slowly regenerates the Crinos’ health and grants another health bar upgrade – which will be incredibly useful during prolonged fights with tough enemies.
• Unstoppable Warrior: This skill lies under the Rush ability. Costing three Spirit Points, Unstoppable Warrior enhances the Rush ability, adding fury regeneration when hitting enemies.
• Wind Claws: Find this skill to the right of the Unstoppable Warrior skill. Spending the three Spirit Points required to unlock this skill will grant an upgrade to the Razor ability, increasing the area of effect and inflicting greater damage to surrounding enemies.
• Balor’s Grasp: The final ability in the Heavy stance skill tree costs four Spirit Points. This ability inflicts damage and knocks down all of the enemies in front of the Crinos.

Now you have all of the information that you need for the Heavy and Agile stances, as well as how best to deploy them to devastating effect within Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood. So, go and unleash hell on Endron and fight back against the Wyrm.