A lot of people are confused as to levels of a specific type of haki, but especially CoA;
In my opinion the 4 levels of CoA each has it’s own function and complement each other at the same time but you can be a master of each type separately without being necessarily weaker than masters of higher levels
So let us start with the first level and this is where it gets tricky, depending on the fighting style, innate abilities/devil fruits this type maybe better than the hardening and here is why; it’s from the way it “enforces” the bodies toughness and sturdiness similar to Tekkai and the exoskeleton making the person as hard as a rock, basically it makes it as though you have a heavier mass. I think Sanji toughened the level 1 CoA rather than use hardening in IJ and in my opinion the TR, calamities, Kidd, Sanji and Cracker have mastered this level
The second level which is hardening is the most widely used among characters due to it’s convenience and here instead of strengthening the body itself CoA covers the skin of the user and hardens it but the mass and consistently remains the same which is why they get blown away despite receiving minimal external injuries. The highest form of this level is the one that emits sparks(ie Katakuri’s block mochi and Jinbei)
level 3 is Ryou
level 4 is what we call AdCoA since the lower 3 are basic CoA which is the penetration haki
In my opinion the 4 levels of CoA each has it’s own function and complement each other at the same time but you can be a master of each type separately without being necessarily weaker than masters of higher levels
So let us start with the first level and this is where it gets tricky, depending on the fighting style, innate abilities/devil fruits this type maybe better than the hardening and here is why; it’s from the way it “enforces” the bodies toughness and sturdiness similar to Tekkai and the exoskeleton making the person as hard as a rock, basically it makes it as though you have a heavier mass. I think Sanji toughened the level 1 CoA rather than use hardening in IJ and in my opinion the TR, calamities, Kidd, Sanji and Cracker have mastered this level
The second level which is hardening is the most widely used among characters due to it’s convenience and here instead of strengthening the body itself CoA covers the skin of the user and hardens it but the mass and consistently remains the same which is why they get blown away despite receiving minimal external injuries. The highest form of this level is the one that emits sparks(ie Katakuri’s block mochi and Jinbei)
level 3 is Ryou
level 4 is what we call AdCoA since the lower 3 are basic CoA which is the penetration haki