Tekken 8: Panda Guide - Combos, Move List, Rage Arts, & More

This article is part of a directory: Tekken 8 Guide Hub - Tips, Tricks, Unlockables & More

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Panda is, shockingly enough for anyone not familiar with Tekken 8, only one of two separate playable bears in this game. Kuma is the most well-known bear on the roster, while Panda is the second. While Kuma spends every waking moment either making Paul Phoenix miserable or training like Heihachi, Panda is almost always within 10 feet of Ling Xiaoyu.

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Pokes are a great strategy in Tekken 8, and these characters have the best options for this fighting tactic.

Both of the bears are playable in Tekken 8 as they're among the 32 fighters available at launch. And, while they're mostly the same, there are more differences between them than ever before. So, let's go over what exactly Panda has in her kit, how she differs from Kuma, how she differs from the rest of the cast, and what you need to know if you want to play Panda as your main.

Who Is Panda? Why Is She Always Near Ling Xiaoyu?

Xiaoyu's Bodyguard & A Real Adorable Beast

Tekken 8 - Panda and Xiaoyu Annoying Asuka

For anyone who has taken a look at our Kuma guide, you're going to see a lot of similarities between Panda and Kuma. In fact, up until around Tekken Tag Tournament 2, both Panda and Kuma shared the same character slot. And, both bears have a strong connection to Heihachi Mishima, as Kuma was trained by Heihachi and eventually became Heihachi's bodyguard while Panda was also trained by Heihachi but then assigned to be a bodyguard for Ling Xiaoyu while she attended the Mishima Technical School.

This is where the difference in the bear's style and slight fighting differences come in, as Kuma adores Heihachi and is happy to emulate his attacks in his own fighting style while Panda has spent most days training with Xiaoyu and as such has integrated some of her movements into her own moveset as well. Additionally, while it might seem obvious that the two bears in the roster would like being around each other, Panda apparently can't stand Kuma and makes this clear whenever she gets the chance.

How The Tekken Community Writes Out Inputs

For Writing Out Directional Inputs, Attacks, & Combo Strings

Just like with our other Tekken 8 character guides, it's first important to break down how exactly players are meant to read inputs for this game in guides online. The Tekken community uses a bit of a unique nomenclature for writing out their inputs as opposed to following the standard Light Punch, Heavy Punch, Light Kick, Heavy Kick method. To be more specific, Tekken has Left Punch, RIght Punch, Left Kick, and Right Kick that are expressed in the same order as 1, 2, 3, and 4. So, a combo that followed a sequence of, say, Left Punch into Right Punch into Left and Right Punch together would be written as 1,2, 1+2.

When doing things this way, Tekken players can easily ready how a combo or attack string is performed regardless of what their controller method is (be it a fight stick, controller, or even keyboard). We aren't going to get over all the terminology used or how it's written, but for the sake of this Panda guide, here's what you'll need to know:

Symbol Used	Meaning
u	Up
d	Down
b	Back
f	Forward
1	Left Punch
2	Right Punch
3	Left Kick
4	Right Kick
H	Heat
HB	Heat Burst
RA	Rage Art
u/f	Up+Forward (AKA Diagonal Up & To the Right)
d/f	Down+Forward (AKA Diagonal Down & To the Right)
u/b	Up+Back (AKA Diagonal Up & To the Left)
d/b	Down+Back (AKA Diagonal Down & To the Left)

Panda Vs Kuma Playstyle & General Character Overview

Panda Isn't Just a 1:1 Kuma Clone

Again, if you've seen our Kuma Guide, then you're pretty much covered on Panda. Both Panda and Kuma are characters that seem like gimmick-only fighters at first, but upon playing them and exploring deeper, you'll find that these bears actually have a lot of depth that's connected through their gimmicks. For example, yes you can get by in lower ranks just using the stances such as Hunting Bear Stance, Bear Roll, and so on, but that won't get you to the high ranks and it won't get you anywhere near Tekken God.

But, if you practice enough, you'll see that Panda's best combos use Hunting Bear Stance, Bear Roll, and the more 'gimmicky' attacks to connect different strings, leading to an absurd amount of damage. Just like Kuma, Panda has a ton of mix-ups, is deceptively fast (especially with their 121 jab string), and even has a variant of Xiaoyu's Shooting Star kicks while in Heat Mode. This is one of the main differences between Kuma and Panda, as Kuma's unique move during Heat is Fresh Wind Bear First (a variation of Heihaci's Electric Wind God Fist) which is great for combos. Panda's Shooting Star kicks, in comparison, are less useful in combos but great for applying pressure.

Panda's Rage Art

Close Call! Panda Storming Flower

Both Kuma and Panda's Rage Arts are absurdly comical. While Kuma simply knocks his opponent sky-high and has his high-tech fish weapon blow them up, Panda's Rage Art is a bit more...involved.

First, she knocks her opponent into the air before rolling forward onto her back right under where said opponent will land. Panda then catches them in her hands, spins them around like it's a circus act, and knocks them away so that they keep rolling forward. However, it seems like Panda put a bit of spin(?) on the person as she spun them, and they came back around to collide with Panda from behind. But, before that, Panda turns around and finishes the Rage Art with a huge double-paw thrust to send the opponent flying one more time.

Of course, you'll need to be at 25 percent health or lower to actually use her Rage Art (the input for which is df1+2). If it's a bit hard to tell when you're at 25 percent or lower, just know that once your health bar turns red and has this 'flaming aura' around it, you're in Rage Mode.

Panda's Stances & Unique Mechanics

Hunting Stance, Bear Roll, & Much More

Stances are a big thing in the Tekken franchise, and it feels like they're more important than ever in Tekken 8. As such, Panda of course has stances too, the exact same ones as Kuma. As we said earlier, outside of their Heat Moves, Heat Rush, and Rage Art Panda and Kuma have the exact same move list. So, the stances and unique moves listed below are also all ones Kuma has access to:

Stance Name	Stance Button Combination	Alternate Button Combination	Visual Telegraph	Primary 'Function'
Hunting Bear Stance	f3+4 or Forward + Left & Right Kick	N/A	Panda gets on all fours	A low high-guard stance with a lot of lot of slower but heavier hitting punches.
Bear Sit	d3+4 or Down & Left + Right Kick	N/A	Panda energetically sits down at full force	A mix-up stance where Panda has a couple of options of what to do while sitting, from rolling forward to kicking low, and so on.
Bear Roll	Bear Sit + F or Down & Left + Right Kick and then Press (& Hold) Forward	c1+2 or While Crouching + Left & Right Punch	Panda either rolls forward or backward while sitting	An extension of Bear Sit that adds even more potential moves into the pot to mix opponents up such as Bear Slide, Bear Shove, Bear Rolling Kick, and more.

In general, HBS or Hunting Bear Stance is the most important one, as there are a lot of mix-ups Panda can do out of this Stance and it's used to extend some combo strings. Bear Roll is probably the 'second' most important one, and Bear Sit is the third and most 'gimmicky' option. In general, people who are new to playing Panda or Kuma typically overly rely on the moves mentioned above and people who get more comfortable with these characters know when the best time is to use these unique stances to completely throw their opponents off.

Panda Starter Pack

She Has A Surprising Amount of Options

While Panda and Kuma do seem stronger in Tekken 8 than in any Tekken game previously, they're still relatively easy to adapt to. Most people get used to their jab opening after a couple of rounds at most, and their kicks leave a lot to be desired. However, these bears have a lot more options than you might first assume, so here are some of the most important attacks and general concepts to keep in mind while playing them:

Tip #	Explanation
1	Get comfortable with her Hunting Bear Stance ASAP, it'll only become more important the more experienced you get with Panda.
2	Both Panda and Kuma have unique hitboxes, being Giant Bears that fight on their hindlegs. This is both advantageous and disadvantageous, as it can lead to some combos connecting that wouldn't on any other character and it can also lead to enemies dropping combos that wouldn't have dropped against any other character. Try and use these small windows where your hitbox throws the opponent off to your advantage.
3	While Kuma's Heat Rush is good for Wall-Breaks, Panda's is actually great to use mid-combo and even as a combo extender. The application of their Heat Rush's in particular is vastly different, and this can throw opponent's off who are used to fighting Kuma more than Panda.
4	1+2 is a great punishment, good for punishing sidestepping, and great to throw at the end of a combo. Additionally, d1+2 looks like it's a low hit but isn't, which is a great (and hilarious) follow-up once you open the opponent up.
5	Panda has a lot of plus frame moves, a lot of options on the ground, and a lot of gimmicks, make use of all your tools as much as possible to constantly keep your opponent guessing.

As a final note, Panda and Kuma both suffer quite a bit at the hands of opponents who have had a decent amount of experience against them. Therefore, while you can rely on certain attack strings, moves, and gimmicks against most opponents, make sure you know all of your options and be ready to use the more unique ones if you can feel your opponent getting acclimated to you.