Alright, let’s talk about parrying in Elden Ring. Man, when I first jumped into the Lands Between, I wanted to parry everything. Seemed like the cool, skillful way to play, you know? Like those videos you see online. But it wasn’t that simple, not at all.
So, my first steps were clumsy. I grabbed a basic shield, the one with the actual ‘Parry’ skill, and just started swinging it at anything that moved. Those soldiers hanging around Limgrave? Yeah, I ate a lot of dirt trying to parry their wild swings. Sometimes it worked, mostly it didn’t. I got guard broken, stabbed, slashed… you name it. It was messy.
Figuring Things Out – The Hard Way
I quickly realized you can’t just parry attacks randomly. There’s a rhythm, a tell. I started paying closer attention to the enemies themselves, especially the ones that looked kinda human-shaped. Knights, soldiers, those basic enemies carrying swords or axes.
My process became something like this:
- Observe first: I’d just watch an enemy attack pattern for a bit. Dodging, blocking, just seeing what they do.
- Pick an attack: I looked for standard weapon swings. Usually attacks coming from their right hand seemed more consistent to parry. Big, slow wind-ups were often baits or too strong.
- Listen: There’s often a little sound cue just before the parry window. Hard to describe, but you start hearing it.
- Experiment: Then I’d try the parry. Usually failed the first few times. Timing is tight. I found using a Buckler or a small shield felt a bit easier, gave me a tiny bit more wiggle room than a medium shield.
- Learn from failure: Getting hit told me I was too early, too late, or trying to parry something unparryable.
I spent a good chunk of time just practicing on the Godrick Knights near the Gatefront Ruins. They have a decent mix of attacks, some parryable, some not. It was a good training ground. Getting that satisfying CLANG sound and the riposte became addictive.
What Doesn’t Work (Usually)
Then I started testing the limits. What about the big guys? Trolls? Runebears? Giants? Nope. Tried parrying a Troll’s foot stomp once. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Generally, massive attacks, body slams, magic spells, dragon breath, grab attacks – forget about parrying those with a standard shield parry. Learned that lesson quickly.
Also, attacks from whips, flails… those seemed inconsistent or impossible. And some enemies, even humanoid ones, just have attacks you can’t parry. Crucible Knights were tough. You can parry some of their sword swings, but their shield bash or tail swipe? No chance.
Bosses and Special Cases
Bosses were a whole other level. Margit, the first big wall for many? You actually can parry some of his cane attacks and dagger swipes! It took me ages to get the timing down, but landing a parry on him felt amazing. Made the fight much more manageable once I got it.
Later bosses? It varies wildly. Some, like Morgott, have several parryable moves. Others, like Malenia… well, you can parry some of her sword attacks, but the timing is brutal, and one mistake costs you dearly. I practiced on her for ages, sometimes landing it, mostly dying. Some special Ashes of War like ‘Golden Parry’ or ‘Carian Retaliation’ can make things a bit different, letting you parry from further away or even parry spells, but the basic principle of timing a physical weapon swing remains key for standard parries.
So, the gist of my experience is this: focus on humanoid enemies using standard weapons (swords, axes, spears sometimes). Watch their attacking arm, listen for the cue, and practice the timing with a small shield or Buckler first. Don’t try to parry massive slams, magic, or weird attacks. It’s a journey of trial, error, and getting flattened a lot, but incredibly satisfying when you nail it.
