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Take control of boss fights and dominate PVP with the power of parrying
Parrying in Elden Ring lets you deflect incoming strikes and stagger enemies, opening them up for a guaranteed critical hit. It’s a skill that demands timing, but with some practice, you can perfect it and turn the tide in your favor during any battle. This Mytour article covers everything you need to master the parry mechanic in Elden Ring.
Mastering Parrying in Elden Ring
To parry, equip a shield with the parry ability. Hit L2 or T2 just as an enemy attack lands to deflect it and stagger them. This opens up a chance for a Riposte or critical strike. Keep in mind—not every enemy or attack can be parried.
How to Parry
Parrying: Step-by-Step
Tap the skill button just before impact. To pull this off, you’ll need a shield with the parry ability equipped in your left hand. Press the Skill button (typically L2/T2 on controllers) at the precise moment before an enemy's strike lands. Perfect timing is key—land it right, and you’ll stagger the foe, opening the door to a guaranteed critical hit or Riposte.
- Each shield has a different parry window. Smaller shields, like the buckler, usually offer the most generous timing with more active frames.
- Only some shields come with the parry skill.
- You can’t parry every enemy, boss, or attack.
- Certain bosses may need to be parried multiple times before they stagger.
- A successful parry grants brief invincibility, giving you a small window to reposition or escape from surrounding enemies.
Understanding Parry Timing: The Three Key Phases
Startup frames: These are the initial frames of the parry animation, during which your character is preparing to parry and remains vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Active frames: This is the critical timing window during the animation where a parry can successfully connect if struck. The duration of active frames varies by shield—some offer just a single frame, while the buckler provides 5 active frames when running at 30 FPS.
Recovery frames: This is the last phase of the parry animation and typically the longest. If struck during this period, your character takes damage to both health and stamina, much like a blocked hit.
Which Attacks Are Parryable
Most melee attacks can be parried. This especially applies to melee strikes from humanoid enemies like soldiers. Swung weapon attacks with an arcing motion are usually fair game—except for jumping attacks and strikes from massive two-handed weapons.
Which Attacks Can't Be Parried
Spells and ranged projectiles. Standard parries don’t work on magic or projectile attacks—unless you use special skills. Carian Retaliation can counter magical projectiles and convert them into glintblades you can fire back. Storm Wall lets you deflect projectiles mid-air.
Strikes from massive enemies. Attacks from towering foes like golems and trolls can’t be parried. However, omens are an exception and can be parried.
Whips and flails are unparryable. These are the only melee weapons that cannot be deflected with a parry.
Colossal weapons wielded with both hands can't be parried. If the weapon is two-handed but carried in one hand, it can still be parried.
Certain airborne foes can’t be parried. For instance, you can’t parry giant bats, but warhawks remain vulnerable to parries.
Charging and slam attacks are immune to parries. Tree Sentinel’s horse charge and , along with Margit’s hammer slam, cannot be parried.
Parrying with Ashes of War
Carian Retaliation: This skill not only parries but also dispels incoming magical projectiles, converting them into three Glintblades you can fire back. Purchase Carian Retaliation from Pidia, Carian Servant, in Caria Manor for 3,000 runes.
Storm Wall: Storm Wall lets you parry melee attacks and deflect projectiles. Usable on small and medium shields, it's found north of Stormhill Shack near the broken bridge. Defeat the teardrop scarab on the western outcrop to acquire it.
Thops's Barrier: Offering slightly improved parry performance on small and medium shields, Thops's Barrier also reflects magic—but doesn’t produce Glintblades. With 3 startup frames and 5 active frames, it can be found in the Church of Irith, dropped by a teardrop scarab after giving Thops the Academy Glintstone Key.
Golden Parry: Golden Parry lets you parry attacks from a longer range than usual. It's dropped by teardrop scarabs in the Capital Outskirts.
Regular Parry: If your shield lacks a built-in parry skill, you can buy one early in the game from the vendor at Warmaster's Shack.
Begin with a small shield. New to parrying? Start with something like a buckler. Small shields offer more active frames and quicker startup, making them ideal for learning. Though larger shields are better for blocking, small ones give you better parry timing forgiveness.
Focus on their hands. While it might be tempting to follow the weapon, you’ll react faster by watching the opponent’s hands instead.
Parry at the start of their swing. Most enemies give away their attacks with a wind-up. The moment you see their hand surge forward, hit R2 or T2. Don’t wait for the strike to land—it’ll be too late.
Keep your guard up while parrying. You can parry mid-guard. Hold L1 to guard—this way, if your parry fails, your shield still absorbs the damage.
Pay attention to animation cues. Analyze your enemy’s movements closely. Look for subtle signs in their animation that signal the right moment to parry.
Practice makes perfect. Mastering parrying takes time. Start by practicing on basic enemies like the Limgrave soldiers. With repetition, it’ll become second nature through muscle memory.
