Apparently this is a mechanic...

[Artek [General]]

If you charge a heavy with a rapier and at any point press Dodge button - it will perform the slashing backstep, just like the one that would replace your kick in Dark Souls games.
...
How was i supposed to find this other than accident?... I've read every item description and do not remember anything mentioning this.

[Farsha]

Yep, that is a hidden mechanic and some curved swords will make you do backflip with slash if I remember correctly.

Neither of those moves are all that usefull though.

[Weedsmell]

Originally posted by Farsha:

Yep, that is a hidden mechanic and some curved swords will make you do backflip with slash if I remember correctly.

Neither of those moves are all that usefull though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfojMdc0qwo

you are welcome

[Artek [General]]

Originally posted by Farsha:

Yep, that is a hidden mechanic and some curved swords will make you do backflip with slash if I remember correctly.

Neither of those moves are all that usefull though.

They're great for cancelling a heavy you realise is gonna get you punished. A rare, but potentially live saving utility.

[Lord Bob]

Performing this kind of attack like that was kind of unexpected for me as well.

Something else which is kind of silimar to this:
Twohand grip any weapon (not dual wield; you must be able to block with it) and start running with it. Sometime while running, press the block button and keep pressing it when you stop running. If you don't make any movement after stopping your running animation (meaning as long as you stand still while blocking) and press light or heavy attack, you will perform a running light or heavy attack out of blocking instead.
This is really interesting when using a (Heavy) Thrusting Sword, as you'll suddenly cover quite some distance.

It's a stored input and I have no idea if it's a bug which hasn't been fixed yet or simply a feature.

[toughnails]

Didn't know about this one but this game has tons of obscure inputs not covered by the tutorial. E.g. backstep attacks (press B/Circle while stationary, then immediately R1 for a unique attack animation).

[EllizzzBOOM]

I know this is an old post but I have to add to it cuz I love these backstep moves. You can do this with Curved swords, Rapiers, great katana and beast claws