God of War Ragnarok: How to parry and counterattack?

 Kratos can deflect enemy attacks in God of War Ragnarok. Here we are going to explain what you need to do to effectively use the parry and the counter-attack.

God of War: Ragnarok allows parries and counters to be used as part of its combat mechanics.

Learning when to block, when to parry, and when to move out of the way is very important to surviving fights. That is why we want to explain how to use them and the differences between them.

How to Parry and Counterattack in God of War Ragnarok

To parry, you have to press L1 at the very last moment, just before an enemy's attack hits.

If you've done it right, you'll see a flash and the game will go into slow motion for a few moments, to let you know that you've knocked the enemy off balance and left them in a vulnerable position. Beware: if an attack is preceded by a red circle, it cannot be blocked. However, if there is no circle or the circle is yellow, it can be blocked and diverted.

As for the counterattack, it does not exist as such at the beginning. You can do a shield bash by pressing L1 twice in a row if the shield has that ability. Doing so will break the enemy guard. Some shields can be charged with energy when blocking or parrying. The only exception at first is with ranged attacks - if you block a projectile at the last moment, Kratos will return it to the enemy and deal damage.

Skills that allow you to counterattack are unlocked later on, but will not be available when you start your game.

What is a parry? What differentiates it from a counterattack?

Well, for those new to us, we're going with two basic concepts: pary and counterattack. Those of you who come from Dark Souls or Elden Ring, you can go to recess. Those of you who don't know the words, pay attention.

• A parry is a deflection of an enemy attack. In gaming terms, this means that you completely block their attack, take no damage, and the enemy they attacked is knocked off balance, making them more vulnerable to a counterattack. As a general rule, it does not deal damage to the enemy.
• A counterattack is a damaging response to an enemy's attack. There are several types of counterattacks. For example, if you are keeping your defense up and while blocking you launch an attack interrupting enemy damage, that would be an interrupt. If the counterattack happens after a parry, Souls players would call it a riposte.

In short: parry avoids all damage and knocks the enemy off balance, while counter deals damage and often interrupts enemy attacks.