How to Parry Attacks in Avowed

There’s nothing more satisfying in an action game than parrying an enemy’s attack, turning their momentum into a wonderful moment of gut-stabbing action. If that’s the Avowed experience you’re looking for, here’s how to parry in the game.

How to Unlock Parry in Avowed

To parry in Avowed, you’ll first have to unlock the ability, so if you were hoping that you could just have it going into the game, sorry to disappoint. Open the menu and go to the “Abilities” screen and the “Ranger” tab. The Parry ability is in the middle column at the top. That means to unlock it, you’ll first have to put an Ability point into any of the three core trees. Once you’ve done that, you can unlock Parry.

There are three ranks of Parry, which I’ve compiled in the table below for ease of reading:

Additionally, at level 10, you’ll be able to unlock “Arrow Deflection,” a separate ability that lets you block arrows and other projectiles by parrying.

How to Parry Attacks in Avowed

To parry in Avowed, you need to block just before an enemy’s attack hits you. The game will make a kind of metal clanking sound, and you’ll get a nice visual indicator on the screen as the enemy reels from your parry. The timing can take a bit to get used to, and it varies a bit between enemies. Practice makes perfect, though, and it’s not nearly as difficult to master as it can be in games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring.

Parrying Isn’t Always an Option

As a note, not all attacks can be parried. In some instances, you’ll see a red circle. You’ll have to dodge those attacks.

Additionally, not all weapons can parry in Avowed. Single-handed and two-handed weapons can generally parry, provided they’re not in your off-hand. If you’ve got a shield in your off-hand, you can parry with that, too. Ranged weapons (such as guns, wands, and bows) can’t parry, and neither can grimoires, so don’t take “the pen is mightier than the sword” literally.

What Parrying Does (& Why You Might Want to Do It)

If you’re wondering what parrying does and why you might want to do it, the reasons are pretty simple. Parrying in Avowed is a great way to stun your attacker, thus staggering them. That’ll let you do a ton of damage. As such, parrying is a great way to avoid taking damage while increasing your chances of dishing it out.

Depending on your build, though, you may or may not want to parry. The ability is way more suited to melee characters who are getting up close and personal with their enemies. If your character is focused more on ranged attacks, you probably shouldn’t take parry. Still, it’s a very good ability if you’re a melee fighter. The good thing, too, is that it’s pretty easy and cheap to respec in Avowed, so if you decide you don’t like Parry, you can get rid of it later without an issue.

And that’s how to Parry in Avowed.

Avowed is available now.