How to parry for newbies.

I'm not exactly a pro myself, but I have found the game fairly... well not easy, it's just not the hardest I ever played. Try the original Castlevania. I never beat that. The reason I made this is because there are no guides I could find to parrying, so I figured I could at least tell you that. Parrying is a tricky thing I had no idea how to do properly for a while. And it helps to know how to use this if you don't make a tank build with a ton of stanima. Any how, have at it!

da guide:

So to start out, most enemies, and even a fair amount of bosses, can be parried. If it's somewhat human shaped, and not much more than 2.5 times you height, it should be parry-able. This includes invaders of the online flavor, as well as the NPCs. You can even defeat the final boss with only parries if you can nail the timing. It's far from easy though.

There are a few things to be aware of:

-If you miss, you'll be wide open for a nice stab, chop, smash, punch, whip, or other health hazard.
So try not to, well, "try one", when surrounded by enemies. You avoid getting staggered though, even
if it's a attack that cannot be parried. So it's worth trying if your in a pinch I guess.

-There will be a echo sound when done correctly, during which you are supposed to hit what ever
button or key you bound the light attack to. You want to be able to hit the attack immediately after
the parry, it's called a riposte. Even if you don't make it, you'll still hit something(probably). So
keep this in mind when making your control scheme.

-If you riposte, you do critical damage, so use to great effect on black knights and such. It's just
like a back stab, but more "leet" and with less spinning. This is the way to defeat the "Gwin the
super saiyan" without taking damage(well, on paper). Also, this whole animation keeps you
invincible for the duration. So exploit once you get this down.

-Certain weapons and shields are a bit less unforgiving with your parry timing, these should say
something to that effect in their descriptions, but here's a list just for the heck of it.
-Target shield
-Buckler
-Parrying dagger(duh)
Pretty small list aye? Any way, the difference is literally two frames, so as long as your not using a
great shield or a non-sword/knife weapon, your pretty much golden. Heck, you can do this bare
handed if your feeling too cool for school. Note that you can only use your left hand weapon for
this, two handing your right hand weapon replaces it with a block.

-Speaking of using your anime quality hand skills; If your special and bare hand the parry, be
aware that the shield will offer some protection if your off by a couple frames. Your necked fist
won't. Surprised? The defense stat on bladed weapons seem to apply. Dark hand seems to count
as a shield.

-You can't parry projectiles. You're not that anime damn it. What do you think this is? A
platinum games production? It does seem to partially parry most of them with a shield though. Just
block though, ya get more protection, and you don't look like you're hailing a taxi.

So to parry, you want to get pretty close to the enemy if you want a good stab at them. Wait for them to wind up their attack, and just as they start to move their weapon for a blow, hit parry. You would be wise to know the attack patterns so you can time it right, as if you don't hit it right when the animation starts, you will not parry. I find myself anticipating and pressing right before I think I should, (not by much I should add) it works most of the time. Long wind ups are hardest for me, but you may be able to read those better, so experiment when you find yourself out of souls. This is a useful skill in the game, and can be done with virtually any build, so learn as soon as you can.

Lastly, on the subject of animations and timing, Here's a tip on back stabbing if your having trouble:
You will need to line up the back stab up with the back of the enemies head when said enemy is not using any fast animations or getting up. Basically, the models back and the entities back are not the same thing, so you have to use the only thing that stays in the same direction, i.e., the head.

I think that's everything. If I missed something, tell me in the comments. I'll fix it or add it so that this thing is more complete. Thanks for reading! And enjoy this game that is as punishing and strangely enduring as a unhealthy relationship.

[Triggerquad]

wampa, no it isn't. learn your fencing.

[Triggerquad]

oh, I didn't know that. You may have made me invincible against humanoid enemies now.

[Caseys2cold]

Tip: if you're not close enough to parry an unarmed punch then you're not close enough to parry at all, even if they are using a spear

[Triggerquad]

@Arkan01d, yes, you can parry thrusts, and generally the same rules follow. wait for the attack to fully wind up, and just before they thrust, hit the parry button. most thrust animations are very quick though, so I tend to either block or roll through those. the only attacks I know of that can't be parried are things like a two handed attack with a heavy weapon, grabs, and then non weapon attacks. skeletons can run out of stamina pretty easy, so hitting them with a greatsword until they stagger works well. you have just enough distance to hit them without them poking you most of the times. forget about trying that with a black knight though.

[King Herod]

Question: can you parry a thrust attack? The shielded Skeletons in Undead Burg and the Black Knights both typically open with this move, but I've yet to parry it

[Titus Flavius Vespasianus]

Good tips. Thanks!

[Triggerquad]

there were a lot of spelling errors, and a few bit's of broken syntax. I think I got them edited out now.

[Mersikka]

It's "riposte" not "reposte" btw

[@Ixxmantisxxl]

Castlevania I, II Simons Quest, and III are all much harder than this but thanks for the tips!
I got another tip. I tried this with Nioh and it worked... If you can have a bit of paitence and learn the moment when the enemy goes to hit your shield and you bounce it back then you can parry like a pro. Eassiest Shield is the Bucklers that Baldur Knights have :)