Parry Tips (again)

[KombatKaine]

posted a while ago, but got buried so here's some more.

1. (MOST IMPORTANT) Hold the button.
The parry system in this game is not like most parry games. In most game, if you press the parry button at any point within the window, the parry automatically triggers. In E33, the parry system functions much more closely to how you would parry something in real life. You need to physically be parrying when the attack hits you. If you tap and release in the window, the attack will still hit you, if you press (within the window) and hold, you will be actively in your parry animation when the attack connects, and parry it.

2. Learn with Dodge.
Thats what it's for. We all know parry is the superior option, since it does damage. But there's a reason Dodging is easier. it's intended to be a learning tool to prepare you for parrying. when facing a new enemy, or even one you know but havent figured out the timings for, dodge everything. the timing is still fairly precise, but still much more lenient than parry. when you hit a PERFECT dodge, that means you hit the parry window. once you can do that reliably, you can start to parry.

3. Use ALL the Queues.
Video, Sound and Text. every attack has a unique (to that enemy) version of all 3 of those things. As soon as the enemies turn starts, the text will say "... attacks" or "...attacks slowly" or some kind of thing like that. all of those are tied to a specific attack sequence, so you can know what pattern to look for before the attack animation even starts. This helped me immensely in the later stages of the game when gradient and jump counters start getting mixed in with regular combos. Then watch the animation and listen to the audio together. imo the audio is the easiest to read, but thats just a personal preference for me.

4. You're Going to Fail.
Learning the attack patterns and parry timings IS the game. Everything else is set dressing. It's supposed to be hard to figure it out. And thats where the dopamine dump comes from when you finally crack the code. Don't go into a new fight expecting to instantly parry everything no problem, go into it with the mentality of learning so that you can beat it on the next go around. 9/10 times youll beat it first try anyways, but it makes it WAY less frustrating when you dont, but didnt expect to.

skill levels vary, obviously some people will nail parries right away, others will fail for a while, but the basic idea of learning still stands.

5. Gradient Counters.
Honestly the easiest counter, BUT, at least in my experience, felt impossible when first introduced. the jumpscare-esque color change and slowmo of a gradient attack jebait you into mashing your gradient counter instantly. just be patient. it functions like any other counter, but with the added bonus of "HEY YOU NEED TO PRESS THIS BUTTON SOON" animation blasting your screen. just wait until the attack is about to hit b4 you press (and hold) the button. the devs troll you a lot with timings, but its much more apparent with gradient attacks, with some happening nearly instantly once the colors change, and others taking what feels like a work week before the attack actually happens. thats the point. learn the timing like everything else.


Hope these help someone. I see a lot of people hating on the system, or complaining about it being bad or too hard or needing to be changed. But the system is good, imo. better than many others. You just need to learn the ins and outs of it. And just remember, not every game is for everyone, and thats fine. if its not your cup of tea, no harm, no fowl, move on. but if you really want to like the game, and are struggling, i hope this helps a bit.

[jep1000]

#1 actually helped me a lot. can't remember where I heard it first but it literally changed the gameplay for me.

[KombatKaine]

Originally posted by jep1000:

#1 actually helped me a lot. can't remember where I heard it first but it literally changed the gameplay for me.

yep. definitely the biggest one for sure.

[Agranite (Luong)]

Tip #1 very helpful, I did not know that.

Tip #3 is debatable. sometimes the cues timing is off from my experience. I mostly rely more on animation cue, which is more reliable than audio cue. audio cue only reliable when you're in a rhythm of parrying exactly on audio timing, or if the audio cue is ahead of the animation. One example is the fight where the the guns blast from the shield, the glow only happens exactly when you get hit, instead of giving you a short time to react. You have to predict the timing instead, than follow it by rhythm of the blast.

Here's a tip from me. Every enemy has up to 3 attack methods. When it is the enemy turn to attack, the game tells you what type of attack they will perform. Pay attention to it.

For example, the Golgra fight, he has the following 3 attacks, press parry/dodge during the following cues:

Fast Attack
1. When his right knee moves for a low kick
2. When he spins around for a round kick
3. When he leans left for a high kick

Impressive Combo
1. While he spin in the air, before the kick
2. When he leans to the left with his right leg starts to raise for double kick
3. Shortly after the previous attack
4. When he jumps in the air and shouts, before spinning for a round kick

Swift Attack
1. When he jumps and stays in the air before performing a round kick
2. When he crouches after he lands
3. When he spins after jumping

[KombatKaine]

Originally posted by Agranite (Luong):

Tip #1 very helpful, I did not know that.

Tip #3 is debatable. sometimes the cues timing is off from my experience. I mostly rely more on animation cue, which is more reliable than audio cue. audio cue only reliable when you're in a rhythm of parrying exactly on audio timing, or if the audio cue is ahead of the animation. One example is the fight where the the guns blast from the shield, the glow only happens exactly when you get hit, instead of giving you a short time to react. You have to predict the timing instead, than follow it by rhythm of the blast.

Here's a tip from me. Every enemy has up to 3 attack methods. When it is the enemy turn to attack, the game tells you what type of attack they will perform. Pay attention to it.

For example, the Golgra fight, he has the following 3 attacks, press parry/dodge during the following cues:

Fast Attack
1. When his right knee moves for a low kick
2. When he spins around for a round kick
3. When he leans left for a high kick

Impressive Combo
1. While he spin in the air, before the kick
2. When he leans to the left with his right leg starts to raise for double kick
3. Shortly after the previous attack
4. When he jumps in the air and shouts, before spinning for a round kick

Swift Attack
1. When he jumps and stays in the air before performing a round kick
2. When he crouches after he lands
3. When he spins after jumping

#3 is more of a "you have options" kind of thing. like for me, i was almost exclusively using visuals, and failing hard. then i started listening to the audio more, and that worked the best for me. and sad to say, i didnt even realize the text correlational until late into the game, but that helped me a ton in conjunction with the audio. so it was more just a tip for like "theres different queues, use what works for you".

good breakdown on the golgra fight tho, helps me. im still tryna figure that one out.

[Agranite (Luong)]

the left/right may be all over the place, because when I wrote it down, it's in the perspective of the enemy, but sometimes I would accidentally write from my perspective.

[jep1000]

I rely mostly on animation cues as well. I'm no expert but I get to parry 60-70% of the time.

I've heard people mention of audio cues BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I can't figure those out and I'm already in the middle(?) of act 2. Getting too old I guess.

[KombatKaine]

Originally posted by jep1000:

I rely mostly on animation cues as well. I'm no expert but I get to parry 60-70% of the time.

I've heard people mention of audio cues BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I can't figure those out and I'm already in the middle(?) of act 2. Getting too old I guess.

once you hear them, you cant unhear them. the best examples i can use are the fast knife hand dudes in flying waters that dash between all your party members, and the catapult dudes in the gestral area if you destroy their weakspot and then they only attack with "hidden blade". all the enemy sound queues are different, but generally speaking, it typically sounds like an anime sword "shing". i really dont know how else to describe that lol.

im far from a pro at this game, but there are definitely a few mobs in the game that i can (and have) closed my eyes and still hit the parries on sound queues, once i knew what attack it was using.