Any pro tips for blocking?

[Fx3.髭男]

There's something that's just not clicking for me. And I've put 200 hrs and 100%$ ds3, beat ds2 and Lies of P, beat both Remnant games. Yet for some reason, despite the obvious telegraphs, I can not perfect block hardly anything in this game except larva. Ants, even ♥♥♥♥♥♥ red mites almost always hit me, and I always end up blocking so early that I spam block 2-3 times before getting hit or getting lucky.

I don't know why I'm struggling with this, is it because I'm dumb? Or because I'm bad?

[happygiggi]

If you're spamming the block button you'll fail the parry and block automatically to punish the reckless behavior.

And for parry, you HOLD the block button, and get hit within the following half a sec.
If you click, that won't work since you release the "parry" even before you connect the attack.

[6teaNEIN?]

Originally posted by happygiggi:

If you're spamming the block button you'll fail the parry and block automatically to punish the reckless behavior.

agreed, spamming simply will not work.

Originally posted by happygiggi:

And for parry, you HOLD the block button, and get hit within the following half a sec.
If you click, that won't work since you release the "parry" even before you connect the attack.

here I disagree somewhat. I understand the intention, but I see it more as an act of timing. I NEVER hold block, not even for split a second.. as I say, it's all about timing. once you've worked out the timing vs tells, you only need to tap block to parry. if you hold and get the timing wrong, you will be punished just the same as if you were spamming

[Humpenstilzchen]

Ants are almost impossible to parry. Their attack just comes out way too fast it´s basically an instant hit.

[Pigeon Chest]

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Ants are almost impossible to parry. Their attack just comes out way too fast it´s basically an instant hit.

Completely wrong, the reaction speed required to block an ant attack starts at the starting recoil before the lunge.
You cannot claim it is impossible just because you have no concept on how it works.

(Edit: But yeah OP, you need to hold the block for it to count, spamming results in failure on purpose- any success you had while spamming was pure luck of chance)

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by Pigeon Chest:

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Ants are almost impossible to parry. Their attack just comes out way too fast it´s basically an instant hit.

Completely wrong, the reaction speed required to block an ant attack starts at the starting recoil before the lunge.
You cannot claim it is impossible just because you have no concept on how it works.

(Edit: But yeah OP, you need to hold the block for it to count, spamming results in failure on purpose- any success you had while spamming was pure luck of chance)

I can perfect parry everything in this game except for ants. I have very much a concept of how parrying works but for ants I never get the timing right.

[Fx3.髭男]

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Ants are almost impossible to parry. Their attack just comes out way too fast it´s basically an instant hit.

Congrats tho, you're the only other person in this thread with any hint of reading comprehension so, we go that going for us.

[pcdeltalink]

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Ants are almost impossible to parry. Their attack just comes out way too fast it´s basically an instant hit.

I've noticed this as well and I usually just power through and keep hitting them since it is almost impossible to parry. At least it's their light attack that does this and their 3 hit combo still has a noticeable windup/mandible click.

As for you, OP don't feel too bad about ants or even mites given the way their animations work (mites especially are not worth it. You can either ignore their damage or circle strafing will avoid their attacks). As others have said, don't spam blocking.

Best advice I can give is start with either orb weavers or wolf spiders as they have some of the clearest animations to learn on. Find a spider, make a save, practice blocking. Reload if/when killed. I usually do something like this whenever I return to the game after being away for awhile to make sure I still have the timings down. It's good practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA7tW8oocMc

[happygiggi]

Originally posted by Fx3.髭男:

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Ants are almost impossible to parry. Their attack just comes out way too fast it´s basically an instant hit.

Congrats tho, you're the only other person in this thread with any hint of reading comprehension so, we go that going for us.

So you ask for tips, then turn down any advice that doesn't go to "yeah, can't parry that" and clown people. very smart.

[festeringjester]

ants are easy to perfect block tho? very clear to tell when the fast bite is gonna happen

[pcdeltalink]

Originally posted by ZESTERCORP:

ants are easy to perfect block tho? very clear to tell when the fast bite is gonna happen

It's actually a bit trickier than it might seem.

For workers, they have two bite attacks. The fast one and the longer pause and bite one. These basically both have the exact same sound and startup animation. The only difference is the pause before the bite on the long one. This makes it very easy to block at the wrong time in either case. This is complicated by the fact that you are commonly fighting workers more than one at a time.

For soldiers they have three attacks, two of which are very easy to parry. The very audible mandible click (block as soon as you hear it) and then the I'll call it the hiss and headshake move (block after the head quits moving). These two have very noticeable animations and very clear audio cues. Easy to parry.

Then there's their third attack which is the problem...

It's a ridiculously fast slight sideways movement and then immediately a bite. No audio cue of any kind. They just pull it out and if you aren't already ready for it you're almost guaranteed to take the hit as it almost comes out too fast to react to it. Combine that with your normal actions during a fight when you're not standing still staring at them watching animations closely such as when you're attacking and it is easy to see why they are difficult to parry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c31q3vZb84c