Is there ANY way to break thorugh a block?

[Porculeitor]

Seriously, I'm at the second stage and it's starting to seriously aggravate me the fact that the longer combos are useless because any blow beyond the third will be automatically blocked by even rank-and-file mooks even if you dizzy them first (if you don't most of the time they block EVERYTHING). To make matters worse, their block is BETTER than yours, because while your structure will be quickly shattered if you try to turtle, theirs lasts forever because for the AI blocking stops HP AND Structure damage.

Is there any attack that reliably goes through blocks? Because it's seriously killing my enjoyment of the game.

[JAG]

No, your offense is not meant to last for long. The game is very much built around punishing enemy attacks, making the most out of that opportunity (especially through environmental damage, and/or sweeping to disable the enemy for a bit), and then resetting back to neutral. Ideally, this shouldn't be an issue - in group fights, you can simply focus on another enemy who won't start blocking anytime soon; in 1v1 fights, you won't have to wait for them to try and attack you, they'll do that immediately.

Originally posted by Porculeitor:

for the AI blocking stops HP AND Structure damage

That is not true, the defensive mechanics work the same on both sides. The only difference is in values — their structure bars are simply way bigger than yours, and therefore it may feel like your attacks don't do anything.

NPCs take structure damage when blocking, as do you (and when their structure is high, you can break through their block, as they can through yours). NPCs receive chip damage to their health when blocking (from bladed attacks/claw swipes), as do you.

EDIT: Worth noting that enemies will start blocking/will parry earlier or later depending on the variety and strength of your attacks. You can get extended chains out of special attacks, especially when you don't repeat them within the same combo.

[Porculeitor]

So what I gather is that no, there's ABSOLUTELY no way to actually punish enemies that simply decide to block your every attack which means that, indeed, the longer combos are worthless because you never get to successfully pull them off.

It feels rather unfair that such a basic mechanic will barely work when you do it, but for the AI it cannot faIl. It makes combat reactive rather than proactive, which is not a design style I favor.

As an aside, in my exerience AI only suffer (minimal) structure damage when blocking if I strike with a weapon. If I'm bare handed, I can rain blows on an almost full bar to no appreciable effect.

[JAG]

Originally posted by Porculeitor:

So what I gather is that no, there's ABSOLUTELY no way to actually punish enemies that simply decide to block your every attack
[...]
It makes combat reactive rather than proactive, which is not a design style I favor.

They're programmed to block after receiving a certain amount of hits/damage, but besides that, pretty much, yeah. "Reactive" is an accurate way of describing it, sorry you don't vibe with that.