Monado Arts

Monado Arts is one of Shulk's special moves in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, used by pressing. On use, a Japanese character appears above Shulk, symbolizing a certain stat boost, and continuing to press cycles through four other ones. From the start, they are Jump ( 翔 ), Speed ( 疾 ), Shield ( 盾 ), Buster ( 斬, which is closer to "slash"), and Smash ( 撃 ). Jump boosts Shulk's normal jumping height and the height of his Air Slash while decreasing his defense and increasing his knockback; Speed boosts his movement speed while lowering his damage and his speed; Shield increases his defense to attacks and knockback while reducing his damage, his jump height, and his speed; Buster significantly increases his damage while lowering his knockback and defense; and Smash increases his knockback while decreasing his damage and weight.

For an art to be chosen, must not be pressed for a bit of time. While it is active, the art's color glows around the part it affects (for example, Jump and Speed create a glow around Shulk's feet), and in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a corresponding icon appears on Shulk's portrait. The active aura lasts for fifteen seconds before disappearing, and it cannot be activated for another ten seconds. An aura can also be cancelled manually by tapping three times or holding down  for a second. Two auras cannot be activated at the same time; in order for a second aura to be chosen, the first one must either run out or be cancelled. The only exception is if Shulk dies, in which case all of his arts are restored.

The move has two variants: Decisive Monado Arts and Hyper Monado Arts. Decisive Monado Arts causes arts to last five seconds longer and charge five seconds sooner, but once activated, cannot be cancelled until it runs out of time. Hyper Monado Arts boosts all aspects of an art, causing all buffs and debuffs to become stronger, while also lasting for a shorter amount of time and require five more seconds to charge.

Trivia

 * Speed, Shield, and Buster are all arts that Shulk could use originally in Xenoblade Chronicles (though with different effects); Jump and Smash were created for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.