Elden Ring: How to parry and riposte enemies

While the primary purpose of shields in Elden Ring is to prevent damage, several of them can also be used to parry adversaries. If used at the correct time, this technique lets you deflect an incoming attack, leaving your opponents wide open for a critical riposte that deals massive damage. Parrying isn't just useful against common adversaries; it can also be used against several of Elden Ring's bosses, making even the most difficult confrontations considerably simpler.

Parries, on the other hand, have the disadvantage of being a very high-risk move to attempt. Due to the narrow window of success for parries, it's extremely tough to time them perfectly, and if you don't parry successfully, you'll almost certainly be hit by the strike you're attempting to deflect.

This can be rather severe when facing dangerous monsters who deal a lot of damage. We'll go over everything you need to know about parrying in this guide, including what equipment you'll need, how to parry and riposte, and which attacks you can and can't parry.

How to parry and riposte in Elden Ring

To parry in Elden Ring, you'll first need to equip a shield on your character's left hand that has the Parry skill equipped on it. The Parry skill is included by default on most tiny wooden shields in Elden Ring, as well as certain medium-sized shields.

It's worth noting that the Buckler shield has its own Buckler Parry skill, which is more lenient with parry timing. You can buy the Buckler from Gatekeeper Gostoc in front of Stormveil Castle for 1,500 runes if you have him open the main gate.

Then, just before an opponent assault is going to hit you, press the left trigger (L2). If done correctly, red sparks will fly, a loud sound effect will be heard, and the enemy's strike will be pushed to the side. To perform a critical riposte while the enemy is shocked and their torso is exposed, press the right bumper (R1) in front of them.

This attack will deal a lot of damage and knock your opponent down. In many circumstances, ripostes will kill adversaries in a single hit, while larger enemies and human players in PvP will seldom die from a single riposte.

It's worth noting that you can't riposte many important bosses after parrying them once, as one parry isn't enough to break their stance. Before you can land a riposte, you usually have to parry bosses numerous times.

What attacks can you parry in Elden Ring?

In Elden Ring, you can parry most physical attacks, but not all of them. In general, any assault from giant foes cannot be parried, and strikes from enemies using big weapons with two hands cannot be parried either. Parrying arrows, bolts, or shield bash assaults is likewise impossible. You won't be able to parry attacks from creatures either.

Attacks from "normal" weapons as well as attacks from one-handed massive weapons can both be parried. You can parry various Ash of War weapon techniques that entail physical attacks in addition to basic attacks.