Grand Blue officially highlights powerful fighting styles as a core system. A style gives your normal combat a dependable identity while fruit and weapon skills are on cooldown. Current walkthroughs consistently show early sword and brawler training in Anchor Town, but the full roster, trainer names, locations, costs, and requirements conflict between sources.
Currently documented early paths
Weapon-focused
Sword or Swordsman training
Recent guides place an early sword trainer in Anchor Town and describe tasks that use sword damage before unlocking or improving skills.
Status: community corroborated at the broad path level.
Unarmed
Brawler training
Current walkthroughs describe an early brawler route involving physical training actions plus a live requirement.
Status: community corroborated; cost and repetitions need testing.
Later styles
Additional trainers
Community sources claim more styles across later islands but disagree on trainer names and exact placement.
Status: do not publish as a complete roster yet.
Find a trainer by marker, role, and island instead of relying on a disputed name such as Wallace or Whitty. Read the live preview before paying or completing a long requirement.
What a fighting style changes
Test whether the style changes light-attack reach, animation speed, final-hit movement, heavy attack, skill access, or resource use. Do not assume the number keys belong only to fruit powers; current guides report style and weapon skills as additional equipped actions.
A good style gives you something safe to do repeatedly. Against normal enemies, that may be a short M1 string. Against a boss, it may be a fast punish after a known recovery. The style should still function when Energy is low or the fruit’s major cooldowns are unavailable.
Pair it with a fruit that covers another job. A close style benefits from range, group control, or movement. A fruit with long animations benefits from a fast normal string. Avoid two layers that both require the same long commitment.
Find and evaluate a trainer
Start in the town indicated by the current Logbook or quest. Look for a fighting-style marker, training area, or NPC whose dialogue previews the style. Confirm the style name, currency cost, prerequisite, task, and whether learning it replaces the current style.
Take a screenshot of the requirements. If the trainer asks for a specific damage type, use that exact weapon or action; finishing enemies with fruit skills may not count.
Test a new style safely
Return to an ordinary enemy near a quest giver. Clear once with light attacks only. Then add the heavy attack. Finally, test each equipped style skill separately. Record range, wind-up, movement, knockback, resource cost, and recovery.
Do not take the style straight into a boss because an unfamiliar animation can move you into danger. Make sure block and dash still work after the string. Test on mobile with the camera thumb in its normal position so a skill button does not hide an essential defensive input.
Run one full repeatable quest and compare it with the previous style. A faster single enemy does not matter if group clear, travel, or recovery becomes worse.
Style skills and scrolls
Current walkthroughs report that enemies can drop skill scrolls and that weapon- or style-specific skills may need the correct tool equipped. When an unlock message appears, open the skill menu and assign the action to a visible slot. Test it before leaving the island.
Do not assume a scroll works with every blade, fist style, or axe. Read its requirement. If the skill remains unavailable, verify the weapon family, learned style, mastery, slot, and current cooldown.
Save duplicate or rare scrolls only through an inventory method the game supports. Do not rely on a ground drop surviving a disconnect.
Choose a style for your goal
For leveling, favor a quick normal string and an action that handles clustered enemies without scattering them far from the quest area. For bosses, favor safe recovery, predictable movement, and a punish that fits the phase. For PvP, test confirms and what happens after a miss.
For a fruit-heavy build, choose a style that functions during Energy recovery. For a weapon build, choose the style that matches the weapon and skill requirements actually shown. For exploration, movement is helpful only if it does not consume the resource needed for combat.
Troubleshooting
If the trainer is missing, check island, story progress, current server, and marker rather than trying several conflicting names. If training does not count, use the required action on valid targets and keep the objective active. If the style learned but attacks did not change, equip or select it through the current menu.
If a skill disappeared, check the slot and weapon requirement. If switching styles would erase progress, stop and read the live confirmation; no universal retention rule is verified here.
Quick answers
How many fighting styles are in Grand Blue?
Some current sources report four, but the complete current roster is not verified here. Early sword and brawler paths are the most consistently documented.
Where are the first trainers?
Current walkthroughs place early sword and brawler training in Anchor Town. Use trainer markers and live dialogue because names and requirements conflict.
What is the best fighting style?
Choose the style whose normal string, recovery, and skills solve your current activity. No universal Early Access ranking is verified.
Continue to Weapons and Equipment and Beginner Builds to complete the loadout.
Evidence status: fighting styles are official. Early sword and brawler paths plus skill-scroll behavior are community corroborated. Full roster, trainers, locations, costs, requirements, retention, and moves need current in-game testing.