Combat plays a significant role throughout your journey inLords Of The Fallen, and you’ll frequently find yourself engaged in battles. If you’re already familiar with the soulslike game genre, the combat will feel quite familiar. However, if you’re new to this style of game and still honing your combat skills, there’s a good chance you might have missed some crucial mechanics available in the game.

While combat primarily involves landing attacks on enemies, there are two important mechanics that can greatly aid you during challenging moments: Parry and Backstab. It might not be immediately clear how to fully utilize these mechanics, but if you’re reading this far, you’re in luck.

Player parrying an enemy attack Lords of the Fallen

How To Parry

The first important combat mechanic in the game that you should know isParrying.

Parrying functions as you would expect in other games, but there’s a unique twist here due tothe presence of Withered Health. Blocking enemy attacks grants you Withered Health, butparrying allows you to take significantly less damagethan you would from simply blocking.

Player standing next to a staggered enemy with a red dot on him Lords of the Fallen

To successfully parry an enemy attack, keep a close eye on their attack animation.When the attack is about to hit you,press the Parry button, which isL1 on PlayStation, LT on Xbox, or Left Shift on PC. This not only reduces the amount of Withered Health you receive but alsocontributes to lowering the enemy’s posture.

Although any type of attack can reduce an enemy’s posture,parrying generally inflicts higher posture damage than regular strikes.

Player performing a backstab Lords of the Fallen

you’re able to observe an enemy’s posture by locking onto them,which is represented by a white circle. As you decrease their posture,you’ll notice the outline shrinking.

Once you deplete an enemy’s posture and stagger them,a red indicator will appear,which indicates the opportunity to delivera Grievous Strike that deals substantial damage, so take advantage of it.

While parrying may sound straightforward,mastering its timing can be challenging.

Different enemies have varying attack patterns, and you won’t always be able to parry every one of them. However, with practice, you’ll become more skilled at it.

How To Backstab

The second combat mechanic that you will find great use for isbackstab, and it works a little differently.

As the name implies,backstabs are executed when you sneak up behind an enemy, but it can not be done just like

First, you need toapproach the enemy from behindand thenperform a fully charged heavy attack. This action will drain the enemy’s posture and stagger them.

You’ll see the samered indicator that signals you can perform a Grievous Strike, but this time from behind.

This technique becomes usefulwhen you spot an enemy with their back exposed. In such cases,you’re able to approach them quietly, take your time, and then apply the method mentioned earlier to perform a backstab.