Ghost of Tsushima: How to Block & Parry

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a game from Sucker Punch Productions, and they’re coming back strong this year with Ghost of Tsushima. Players take control of a samurai named Jin Sakai, who is resolved to protect his people from the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. And as you might expect, there’s a lot of combat and fighting to do in this game. Here’s how to block and parry in Ghost of Tsushima.

Once you get past the game’s intro, you’ll start to get a better feel of how the combat plays. It’s fast-paced but still methodical, and you’ll want to make use of the blocking and parrying mechanics to dispatch of your enemies efficiently.

How to Block and Parry in Ghost of Tsushima

To block, all you have to do is press and hold the L1 button. This will allow you to mitigate damage done by your enemies, and is helpful when you’re getting overwhelmed by a barrage of attacks.

Parrying, however, is the best way to stagger your opponent and open a window to land strikes of your own.

To do this, you’ll want to tap the L1 button just as an attack is about to land, then perform a riposte by pressing either the square or the triangle button. This allows you to hit back at your opponent hard while completely avoiding any damage they would’ve done to you with that attack.

However, you will want to almost immidiately upgrade to the Perfect Parry ability on the Samurai Technique page under Deflection. This will allow you to more effectively stagger your opponent and gain some Resolve at the same time.

The timing for the parry is crucial, as you’ll need to hit the button just as the attack is about to land on you. Any later and you’ll get hit, and any earlier and you’ll end up either just performing a regular block or a semi-parry where the enemy does become hittable for a brief second but isn’t as vulnerable as a full parry.

As you get into more combat encounters with more enemies, parrying and riposting can help you to clear them out quickly.

That’s all you need to know about how to block and parry enemies in Ghost of Tsushima. Be sure to search for Twinfinite or check our guide wiki for more tips and information on the game.