Who else can't seem to get the parry right?

I'm a souls veteran. I bought Demon's Souls back when it came out. I'm no stranger to the series and yadda yadda yadda but for the life of me I cannot seem to get the damn parry down!!!

There appears to be a pretty big delay between when you press the button and when your character actually does the swipe of the shield, much larger than before. The both times I defeated Gwyn at the end of Dark Souls, I did it only by parrying but in this game I just can't get it down. Am I alone?

I have successfully parried once in an hour of DS3 play, which is half as many times as I managed to do in nearly a hundred hours of DS2 play. I found parrying a little too easy in DS1 and I was wielding a Zweihander.

I'm getting the parry down semi-consistently using the Weapon Art of the Uchigatana. Mainly by spamming it, which is also a good way to get yourself killed, I learned.

I'm just two-handing the Uchigatana, so I haven't actually parried using a shield even once. It's definitely a bit tricky with the Uchi (we're on first name basis) weapon art, but very doable once you understand the animation of the enemies as you have to start parrying considerably earlier than in previous iterations. Absolutely not something I'd try against an enemy I hadn't fought before, which is a bit different from previous Souls games where I felt like I could just experiment until I got it down.

Speaking of the Uchi (he's so funny, you guys) the light weapon art is seriously overpowered right now as it knocks most humanoid things out of their attack animations. Might stop being the case once more enemies with heavier poise pop up. I've found a couple of other weapons I'd really want to use, but just knowing they don't have that two-handed parry remains a deal-breaker.

I just got done maining the Uchi in my second playthrough of Dark Souls which I finished like a week ago so with this one, I think I'm just going broadsword for the most part. Now I regret not committing to Dex!

@frostyryan: I don't blame you. For me, it was a difficult choice between being a cool katana man or Guts from Berserk.

Yeah, it's been really tricky. I used to be able to get it if I tried it just as their hand was coming down, but it's not working anymore. The only way I've pulled it off so far has been by blocking and then timing the parry for when I know a second attack is coming right after.

I haven't been able to parry correctly since Demon's Souls.

@do_the_manta_ray: @adequatelyprepared: Are you both annoyed that they nerfed the Uchi for this release? It starts with a dex scale of D where in DS2 and DS1 it started at B.

As far as parrying, I've never been good at it, but the few times I've tried in this one, I've failed. Only had one successful parry with a shield in 6 hours.

I don't think I've gotten a single successful full parry, only a bunch of partial parries that resulted in taking significant damage.

I'm actually having more difficulty with backstabs than parries. The backstab in this game is super finicky.

I'm still getting used to how smooth the animation is for backstabs in this one. It's crazy

Who needs a parry when you have a bitchin' shield?

That's interesting...I can't land a parry to save my life, but I find backstabbing to be super easy. The window seems much more forgiving than in Dark Souls.

@mike: This is where I am as well, so far at least. I can manage to get in backstabs (though it is harder due to enemies having counters against you getting behind them more often it seems) but I have maybe a handful of successful parries... across DS, DS2 and my 8 hours in DS3. I just can't get it right for some reason.

I think the biggest problem with the parry is that most enemies that I have run into so far seem to have a shorter wind up on their attacks. I feel like I have to predict the attack, I don't feel like I have time to react.

I gave up on parrying a few hours in. The timings are difficult, yes, but you lose so much stamina for a partial parry that it just doesn't seem worth the risk

I played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls and loved them, but I don't think I parried once. So yeah, I can't get the parry right. On the other hand I never really tried. Just block and backstab seems like less risk for the same reward.

I'm not really sure what to look for. I started with herald so I have the shield in that starting area. And as I L2 the weirdo's with daggers they get a bit flustered but the opportunity while they're out of attack is like maybe 0.3 seconds at the maximum and all R1 does afterwards is a regular spear attack...

So I'm guessing L2 always beats out their attack if timed broadly correct - but for an actual parry the window is much much narrower?

I swear the spear weilding weirdos get dazed for several seconds though when I only hold my shield up regularly with L1 without any timing on my end.

I played all soul games without using it once (even Bloodborne), I simply pretend it doesn't exist.

I managed to make a different sound to occur when parrying (a much more booming sound) and the enemy was pushed back a little as well as ending their animation, but I wasn't able to then get a specially animated hit in (just a normal one). I never relied on it in previous games, but I could usually figure out how to do it on a given enemy if I chose to - here, not so much.

@tatsuyarr said:

But it was so good in Bloodborne, though I found it pretty hard to perform. But like if I could just get one in it would take off like 1/5th of the hp bar in some boss fights.

@honkalot: It's not that I don't like it but I'm too old for that (already 40), I don't have good enough reflexes anymore. As long as it doesn't prevent me from enjoying those games that's alright with me.

@tatsuyarr said:

Oh, makes sense. :)

I have felt my reflexes start fading a bit too.

Yep, haven't nailed down the parry yet either, but the Lothric Knight's shield has enough stability that it's not a problem yet.

I've actually found the backstabs in DS3 to be a lot more lenient. The angle feels pretty wide and I don't need to be as close as I feel I used to be in DS1. I just keep doing them.

As for the parry question I'm only in the starting area, but I've been consistently parrying a good variety of the enemies so far with my shield. It feels just like Dark Souls 1 to me and because I've been parrying everything since DS1. Also parried a Mad Phantom human player on my first attempt by taking the lag that existed in DS1 into account and it translates into DS3 nicely.

I'm still getting the hang of the Uchi Parry, but I'll get there eventually. It's probably a similar timing to the Parry Dagger, which I never really used so the timing doesn't feel as natural.

About halfway through the game I stopped trying to parry bosses. It seems like one or two of their attacks are parryable and I just get half-parries for the rest and eat a whole bunch of damage. Not worth the risk.

Me too! I suck real bad at timing it. So I just don't use it. I'd rather roll away or use a 100% physical reduction shield and take some stamina loss.

I'm as good at parrying as I was in Dark Souls (can't do it for shit, had to tank my way through Gwyn). In Bloodborne I parried the shit out of stuff.

I usually don't parry much so I havent noticed. I have noticed my go to, the roll, seems much easier this time. I'm finding straight up shielding a lot of attacks to be pretty ineffective as well. So many enemies attack chains are much longer than previous games. My stamina has been broken in these first 2 hours way more than in any other game.

Excluding Bloodborne, I can count on one hand the number of times I have successfully parried in the entirety of my experience playing any Souls game.

I would just as rather block and dodge. Some enemies/bosses (like Gwyn or Bloodborne's Gerhman) basically require you know to how to parry effectively, but for the most part you can get by without it.

Yes I've parried successfully twice in 3.5 hours it is definitely a smaller window than it has ever been. It has been a while since I played Demon's Souls but I think they've been shortening the parry window with each game, feels like they've been halving it.

I am absolutely rubbish at parrying in this, I think I have maybe pulled a full blown parry off once or twice? Every other parry I've gotten I've taken a hit and gotten no good riposte in. It's depressing.

I'm landing about 40% of my parries using what I guess is a medium shield. I think most of the problem for me is that I haven't quite learned the move set on the enemies so I'm hopeful this will improve soon enough.

Backstabbing is SUPER easy this time around. Nailed those consistently last night once I remembered to let go of the direction stick before hitting attack.

Suddenly I beat the samurai guy on my second attempt with like 3 parries in one fight. I'm gonna guess he has a large window rather than that I got gud.

I was never any good at parrying in any of the Souls games, so I just figured it was me. The invincibility on the roll is so good that I wouldn't want to risk a failed parry anyway.

I did find backstabbing weirdly difficult, so much so that I just use a charged up strong attack on unsuspecting enemies now.

18 hours in and I still can't get it right for some reason. Like others I can do it fine in all the other games but this one... It's just off. I know you have to start it way early but the window is just way too small

I started using a shield that doesn't parry. Instead it lets you go right into the weapons special move. I'm finding that much more useful.

I found that the trick to parrying in this game, aside from predicting the enemies moves, is to parry a bit earlier then you think you need to. It just feels very... off compared to every other Souls games where you'v get used to parrying as the attack is coming rather then when it's starting. Also the target shield has an absurdly long parry window.

Personally, 10 hours in, I just punch things in the face rather then parry and only try to parry certain enemies with BS poise/interrupt resistance.

Weird. Exact opposite for me. I pretty much used backstabs mostly accidentally in Dark Souls & especially BB, but I can easily do them here consistently, chained. I can't pull off a parry consistently enough, ever, to rely on it.

I started my character thinking I was going to focus on parrying but at this point I'm having a great time doing what you're doing. My shield/rapier combo with light armor is working out well and going quickly to the special move has just felt better than trying to make the parry work consistently.

For DS3, more than any other Souls game, I've noticed a lot more people backstabbing as well as finding myself trying to backstab a lot more too. It seems like they made that aspect way easier to accomplish.

Sorta off topic but I wanted to mention it.

The delay of blocking with a normal shield is insane in DK3, i haven't even bothered trying since the tutorial area. Was pretty easy to do in DK 1 & 2, even Demon's Souls. Also i find the kick to be real slow as well and not very good either compared to the other games. Just my take.

Ever since Dark Souls 2 I just two-hand every weapon and dodge, so I haven't really tried to parry in DS3. I have noticed that the "big damage" stuns seem a bit more common in this one, which is nice.

Oddly enough the first time I ever tried to parry in DS3 I got it, then struggled to recreate the magic after that one miraculous time. I've been trying to play this like Bloodborne and two handing my weapon, being more mobile, but the pacing and the enemies sort of make it a more shield friendly game. I don't go around with my plank up as I used to in past entries, but I do find there are situations where blocking with the shield is just way more effective than rolling through attacks or lord forbid trying to get the parry in.

Someone above mentioned that they found the backstab even more finicky to pull off than in past games and that has been my experience with it as well.

I'm not noticing a difference between this and Dark Souls 1. Can't remember DS2. And Bloodborne was a bit easier!

I've noticed its easier for me to parry with a dagger than a shield. I got a boss weapon that has a big sword a dagger in a set. And I can parry like no ones business with that dagger. Yet for the life of me, I can't get the timing correct with a shield.

The most luck I've had with parry is for enemy combos. Block/dodge the first one or two hits and then parry. It's a lot more reliable, although I'd still rather use weapon skill shields and just kill the damned thing.