Hajime Rising Tier List: Skill Learning & Stance Rankings
The Hajime Rising tier list explained: skill learning grades for Hook, Uppercut, Infighter Dash and Weaving, plus stance picks: Peekaboo and Dempsey Roll.
There are two Hajime Rising tier lists worth reading, and they answer different questions. The skill list grades four early moves — Hook, Uppercut, Infighter Dash, and Weaving — by beginner learning priority, running from Hook first down to Weaving, whose C grade means “a later lesson,” not “a weak move.” The stance side is community-led: player reviews put Peekaboo and the Dempsey Roll at the top for pressure and counter windows. Here are both lists with their criteria spelled out, as of November 2026.
Two tier lists, two questions
The move tier list is an editorial beginner learning order, not an official power ranking — the wiki’s FAQ says so directly. Its grades describe learning priority: which move to teach your hands first, judged on familiar inputs, tutorial practice, and how many new decisions each unlock adds. A C grade explicitly means “a later lesson in that opening sequence,” which is why the FAQ’s own example asks whether C means you should ignore Weaving. It does not — an experienced player can reasonably prioritize whatever they have not learned yet.
The stance comparison is narrower by design. It contrasts Brawler as a named skill-tree goal against practicing a fighter already equipped with Peekaboo, and it deliberately avoids claiming a measured stance-power hierarchy. The community rankings below fill that gap, with one caveat repeated throughout: they reflect player opinion, not in-game data.
Skill learning tier list: S to C
The four-move list covers the skill tree’s early unlocks, in learning order:
| Move | Input | Learning role | Tier notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hook | X | First tutorial punch, finished on the bag task | Earliest lesson — one new key on a familiar pattern |
| Uppercut | C | Second tutorial punch | Next lesson, same select-then-punch scheme |
| Infighter Dash | Q, with gloves | Adds a movement and closing tool | Graded later — a new kind of decision in exchanges |
| Weaving | Space | Adds a defensive slip | The FAQ’s C-tier example: a later lesson, not a weak move |
Note what the list refuses to do: beyond the order itself and Weaving’s C example, it does not pin an exact S/A/B/C letter to each move (to be confirmed for precise letter grades). The order is the recommendation — Hook, Uppercut, Infighter Dash, Weaving — and the grades describe when to learn a move, not how strong it is in a fight. That is also why an experienced player is free to invert it: your first unfamiliar input is often the better priority once the basic punches are comfortable.
The grades rest on three stated criteria: familiar inputs, tutorial practice, and the number of new decisions each unlock adds. Hook grades first because it is one new key on a pattern the tutorial just taught you; each later node adds a new kind of decision — movement for Infighter Dash, defense for Weaving. None of the grades measure damage, reach, or win rate.
The inputs column doubles as a controls refresher. Z jabs, X hooks, C uppercuts, T swaps between your primary and secondary stances, and E and R fire equipped skill moves — the controls guide has the full list, including middle-click lock-on.
Stance picks: what the community ranks high
Player reviews consistently put two stances at the top: Peekaboo for relentless pressure and the Dempsey Roll for its counter windows (unverified — this ranking is community opinion, not measured data). Around that top pair, the same reviews sketch a shape-based order:
- Balanced middleweights rank best overall, with no glaring weakness in speed or power.
- Pure heavy builds sit mid-tier, trading movement for raw power.
- Pure light builds rank lowest unless you have genuinely mastered footwork.
Both top stances are real in-game objects, whatever the ranking’s precision. Peekaboo appears as a fighter you can already have equipped, and the Dempsey Roll is the signature skill path in the Ippo build — the community’s top tier is at least naming things the game actually contains.
Weight class and body shape
Under the stance rankings sits a mechanical trade-off the game enforces directly: heavier weight classes hit harder but move slower, while lighter builds are faster with less damage per punch. The same curve runs through the height system — taller boxers punch harder but move slower, shorter ones the reverse — which is why the best builds guide treats body shape as the first build decision, ahead of stats or skills.
Neither end of the curve is a trap. Heavies lean on raw power and eat the slower footwork; lights lean on footwork and volume; balanced middleweights ride the middle of every trade-off. That balance is exactly why the community keeps placing them at the top of stance-and-build rankings — not because they win every exchange, but because they lose none of them badly.
How to use either list
Use the learning list to choose your next practice session, then return to the skill tree for the node’s actual requirements — the game supplies those, not the tier list. A recommendation helps you pick the next session; it does not waive the prerequisites of the node you want.
Use the stance rankings to decide where your reroll tokens go. Spending rerolls on a good stance is one of the most repeated community tips, and the fastest token top-up is still codes, redeemed through the codes tab in the main menu. Two habits carry whichever list you follow: practice lock-on timing so punches go where you aim, and mix punch types instead of mashing one key — every list above assumes you can do both.
Tier list FAQ
Is the move tier list official?
No. It is an editorial beginner learning order, with its criteria shown beside the four named moves — familiar inputs, tutorial practice, and the number of new decisions each unlock adds. It ranks lessons, not power.
Does C mean I should ignore Weaving?
No. C means a later lesson in the opening sequence, nothing more. Your first unfamiliar input may be the better priority once the basic punches feel comfortable, whatever its grade.
Which stance should I reroll for?
Community reviews point at Peekaboo and the Dempsey Roll first (unverified), with balanced middleweights as the overall pick for body shape. Treat that as a starting shortlist: a recommendation helps choose the next session, but the game still supplies the actual requirements of whatever stance or node you decide to chase.