Mastering the art of parrying in Avowed can turn the tide of battle in your favor, transforming enemy attacks into stunning counterstrikes. But this skill isn’t handed to you on a silver platter-you must first unlock it in the Ranger ability tree and perfect the timing to block just before an enemy’s strike lands. Nail the parry, and you’ll stagger foes, open them up to devastating damage, and gain a crucial edge in the game’s intense melee combat.
Here’s how to unlock the Parry ability and how to parry in Avowed.
How to unlock Parry in Avowed
To unlock Parry in Avowed, you need to invest at least one ability point in any of the three core class trees: Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard. Then, navigate to the Ranger ability tree where Parry is located in the first row, and spend an ability point to unlock it. Parry can be further upgraded by spending additional points, increasing its effectiveness and stun potential. Once unlocked, you can perform a parry by timing a block just before an enemy’s melee attack lands, using the right mouse button on PC or the LT button on Xbox controllers.
To parry, you must first unlock the Parry ability in the first row of the ranger tree. You can unlock Parry once you place at least one ability point in either of the fighter, ranger, or wizard class ability trees.
You can place three ability points into Parry to gain multiple effects:
- Rank 1 – Unlocks Parry
- Rank 2 (level 5) – Increases Parry efficiency by 25%, dealing greater stun when parrying enemies.
- Rank 3 (level 8) – Increases Parry efficiency by 50%, dealing greater stun when parrying enemies.
How to parry in Avowed
To parry in Avowed, first unlock the Parry ability from the Ranger skill tree by spending one ability point, available early in the game. During combat, time your block (LT on console or right mouse button on PC) to coincide just before an enemy’s melee attack lands. A successful parry triggers a distinct clang sound, briefly slows down time, and stuns the enemy, opening them up for a counterattack. The parry window is forgiving, so pressing block as the enemy attacks usually works. Upgrading Parry increases its efficiency and stun effect, and at higher levels, you can unlock Arrow Deflection to parry projectiles as well.
After you’ve placed at least one ability point in Parry, you can now parry by pressing the right mouse button or LT on controller as an enemy’s attack is about to hit you.
Unfortunately, this does mean that you won’t be able to use two one-handed melee weapons, as you can only block when your off hand is empty or holding a shield.
A successful parry will play a clanking sound as the attack is deflected by your weapon and stagger the enemy. Additionally, parrying attacks will greatly fill the yellow stun meter below the enemy’s health bar, which, once full, will allow you to perform a special attack for a lot of damage.
What’s the secret timing behind a perfect parry in Avowed
The secret timing behind a perfect parry in Avowed is to press the parry button (right mouse button on PC or LT on controller) just as an enemy’s melee attack is about to land. The game provides a fairly generous parry window, so you don’t need millisecond precision-simply time your block to coincide with the enemy’s weapon swing connecting. Successful parries produce a distinctive clang sound, stagger the enemy, fill their stun meter, and open a brief window for a powerful counterattack. Note that parrying requires unlocking the Parry ability in the Ranger skill tree and can only be performed when your off-hand is empty or holding a shield, not when dual-wielding one-handed weapons.
How forgiving is the parry timing in Avowed for different enemy attacks
The parry timing in Avowed is generally quite forgiving compared to other action RPGs, allowing players a generous window to successfully block an enemy’s melee strike just before it lands. While timing can vary slightly depending on the enemy’s attack animation, the game provides clear audio and visual cues-such as a distinctive metal clank and stagger effect-that help players gauge the correct moment to parry. This forgiving timing makes it accessible for players to learn and effectively use parries in close combat without requiring near-perfect precision. However, some attacks cannot be parried and must be dodged instead, as indicated by a red circle prompt. Overall, with practice, players can reliably parry most melee attacks, making it a powerful tool for both defense and counterattack in Avowed.
