Guitar Duels were a new addition with the release of Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, and continued on Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Guitar Hero World Tour. They require the player to beat an opponent by making them fail first, or in Guitar Hero On Tour titles, end with the most points. In Guitar Hero 3, Guitar duels can be played on multiplayer quickplay, or against certain characters in solo career, which become unlocked if they are beat. In the Guitar Hero On Tour titles, guitar battles unlock songs if all of them are beat, and are a part of solo carrer mode in Guitar Hero On Tour Decades. To gain battle powers, players must hit special notes perfectly, just like getting star power. To use a battle item, players must tilt the guitar upwards, or, on a standard controller, press any direction on the D pad (Console guitar heros only), or, in Guitar Hero On Tour titles, just tap the battle icon.
The following is a list of battle items and their effects.
Guitar Hero 3:
- Amp Overload: The notes on the opponents fretboard flash, and the fret board shakes, making it harder for them to see or play the notes.
- lefty flip: Switches the order of the opponents note targets to the opposite of what they normally play. Icon is an upside down smiley face.
- Broken String: Breaks one of the opponent's random strings (Duh!). The player hit by this must repeatedly tap the color to fix it and begin playing those colors again. Icon is a pair of scissors.
- whammy: The player must whammy as fast as they can before being able to play again. Icon is a string.
- difficulty up: Raises the opponent's difficulty setting one level. Icon is a + sign.
- Power up steal: Allows the player to steal the next powerup in line to be used by the opponent. If they don't have a powerup, you'll lose it when you use it. Icon is a hand.
- Double notes: Adds an extra note to single notes and chords (Does not work on 3 or more note chords), making single notes into 2 note chords, etc. Icon is 2 sixteenth notes.
- Death drain: available for sudden death only*. It drains their rock meter no matter haw good they're doing.
* Sudden death is when neither player fails before the song ends.
Guitar Hero On Tour and Guitar Hero On Tour Decades:
- Amp overload: Temporarily mutes the opponents music. Icon is an exploding box...?
- Autograph: A fan shoves an item to be autographed in front of the opponents screen. They must sign (or scribble on) the item to resume playing. Icon is a paper and pen.
- Bombs: Randomly selected notes turn in to bombs. If the player plays the bombs, they lose points. Icon is a bomb (go figure.)
- Broken string: Breaks a random string on the opponents touch screen. They must drag the ends of the string together to be able to play that note. Icon is a pair of scissors.
- Camera Flash: The screen flashes, temporarily blinding the player. Icon is a camera.
- Difficulty down: temporarily decreases your difficulty one level. Icon is a green note gem with an arrow pointing down.
- Difficulty up: Temporarily increases your opponent's difficulty one level. Icon is a blue note gem with an arrow pointing up.
- Powerup steal: Allows you to steal any powerup the opponent has within a small amount of time. Icon is a hand.
- Pyrotechnics: The opponent's guitar catches on fire. They must blow in to the DS mic to put it out. Icon is a flame.
- Screen flip: Temporarily switches the touch and main screen. Notes are still played on the touch screen. Icon is arrows pointing in a circular motion.
- Shield: Temporarily shields you from attacks. Icon is a shield.