Someone explain perfect block - riposte

[Gnolfus]

Been making a lot of threads recently, but I can't seem to find accurate and consise information on this.
I am NOT talking about master strikes, I know how those works. I am playing with a mod where master strikes are much harder to pull off both for you and the AI, so you perfect block most of the time.

However the mechanics behind a perfect block with a follow up riposte are very unclear. In the tutorial, you're told that a riposte from a perfect block can only be defended by a perfect block (or a master strike). However, how do you actually execute this? When attacking right after the block, there are plenty of times where the opponent will normal block or dodge, which shouldn't be possible. Also when you perfect block your attack/guard zone changes briefly for a moment, which leads me that it has something to do with which zone you attack in after a perfect block. However figuring this out is hard because Bernard will perfect block the majority of the time anyway, so it's hard to consistently test it.

[Guts]

If your swing is too slow (low warfare or bad timing) it will not count as a riposte and the enemy can block the attack. The enemy can dodge, perfect block, or masterstrike to avoid a riposte regardless of if your swing is fast enough. A similar thing happens when you win a clinch. The enemy gets knocked back and you have a moment to score a free hit. One moment too late, and the enemy blocks.

Your stance changes because of the way blocking is implemented in this game. Instead of making you move your guard before blocking, you press the block button at the right time. This moves your guard into the path of the attack, which is why your stance changes after blocking. It's a good mix of realism and fun gameplay, since it would get tedious to fight multiple people and have to block in the correct direction.

[Gnolfus]

Originally posted by N473:

If your swing is too slow (low warfare or bad timing) it will not count as a riposte and the enemy can block the attack. The enemy can dodge, perfect block, or masterstrike to avoid a riposte regardless of if your swing is fast enough. A similar thing happens when you win a clinch. The enemy gets knocked back and you have a moment to score a free hit. One moment too late, and the enemy blocks.

No, it is nothing like a post-clinch. And the player cannot dodge perfect block ripostes, so the same rule should apply to the AI.

[theo]

Riposte is a variation of attack that goes straight after perfect block. It looks almost identical to a normal attack, but you can recognize it by like half a second animation of going into attacking position WHILE blocking.
It can be dodged, master struck or perfect blocked both by player and AI. It can't be regularly blocked but high level enemies rarely use regular blocks anyway

[Gnolfus]

Originally posted by theo:

Riposte is a variation of attack that goes straight after perfect block. It looks almost identical to a normal attack, but you can recognize by like half a second animation of going into attacking position WHILE blocking.
It can be dodged, master struck or perfect blocked both by player and AI. It can't be regularly blocked but high level enemies rarely use regular blocks anyway

Yeah but what I asked about was the distinction between a normal attack and a riposte, and how to perform it consistently vs a normal attack after a perfect block. When I attack after perfect blocking the timing seems to have little effect on if Bernard normal blocks it or not (i.e it wasn't a riposte), however timing it so you're attacking in the direction which the block "forces" seem to grant a riposte, but it's hard to tell with Bernard because of his high level.

EDIT: After testing in the tourney, it seems like a riposte indeed is the timing where you attack as your zone changes direction. Can anyone confirm this?