How to parry in Avowed

You’ll have all kinds of weapons and combat methods available to you in Avowed, from daggers to grimoires capable of casting magical spells. If, like me, you’re a fan of blade-to-blade combat, however, you’re probably wondering how to parry in Avowed so you can open your enemy up to a counter-attack.

As you might have guessed, Parry won’t be unlocked from the beginning of your adventure in the Living Lands. Instead, you’ll need to unlock the ability.

Unlocking Parry in Avowed

Parry can be unlocked from the Ranger ability tree. It’s the third ability on the top row, aptly called Parry. Once you’ve leveled up, spend one of your ability points on it to unlock the ability.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Parry can be upgraded twice, and there’s an additional ability to unlock to help you deflect away projectiles. We’ve listed all of these upgrades and the additional ability below.

• Parry Rank 2: Increases parry efficiency by 25%, dealing greater Stun when parrying enemies.
• Parry Rank 3: Increases parry efficiency by 50%, dealing greater Stun when parrying enemies.
• Arrow Deflection: This ability requires you to have unlocked Parry and to have reached level 10. This allows melee weapons to block arrows or similar projectiles when parrying.

Screenshot by Destructoid

How to parry attacks in Avowed

With the ability unlocked, you can now parry certain enemy attacks. If an enemy glows red before during their attack animation, it cannot be blocked or parried. If the enemy has a yellow circle (or none) around them, wait until the enemy’s attack animation has them lunging forward. Press LT/RMB at the right time and you’ll block the incoming attack and stun the enemy.

The good news is the ‘parry window’ is pretty generous. This isn’t a Souls-like game where you’ll need to perfect the timing to the nearest millisecond. In my experience, if you press LT/RMB as the enemy is swinging their weapon at you, you’ll successfully parry their attack away.

Screenshot by Destructoid

This gives you time to land a few hits of your own and will fill the yellow ‘Stun’ bar beneath the enemy’s health bar. Once this is filled, you’ll be able to land ‘special’ attacks that deal critical damage.

Parrying is a crucial ability to learn if you plan to focus on melee combat in Avowed. I’d also recommend leveling it up quickly, as the increase to Stun dealt to enemies that the higher ranks offer comes in particularly handy. Arrow Deflection can also help prevent chip damage from ranged attacks when you’re taking on multiple enemies at once.

For more advice on your adventures through the Living Lands, check our guides on whether you should free or leave Ilora, confront the smugglers or report the refugees, and whether or not to put the relic in the statue in the Dawntreader side quest.

Destructoid is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy