Dark Souls III: How to Backstab

Dark Souls III will once again allow you to backstab your enemies for some pretty high damage. While the controls to do so may seem pretty simple, it may not always work. Here’s how to backstab effectively in Dark Souls III.

Now, it may seem pretty self-explanatory from the name of the attack, but you’re gonna want to get right up behind your chosen enemy. Once you’re behind them, you’ll want to line your sword up, rather than aligning your body directly behind them. When you’ve got yourself into position, hit the Light Attack button (R1 or RB). Your character should then perform the backstab animation and deal out a critical hit and a large amount of damage.

One thing that should be noted, however, is that you’ll have to drop your shield to backstab. So, if you’ve been holding up your shield to guard while circle strafing around your enemy to get in position, you’ll have to drop it for a couple of seconds before attempting a backstab. If you don’t do this, you may find that you simply dish out a light attack into their back.

Backstabs can be incredibly useful in Dark Souls III. These critical hit attacks cannot just be used on normal enemies, but even some bosses. So always remember, if you get the chance in the heat of battle, to get your sword all up in your enemy’s back.

Be sure to check out our Dark Souls III wiki for more tips and tricks.