Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: Tips for becoming a parry god

In easier difficulties in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you can quite often win wars of attrition. If you take every hit and deal out damage in turn, you'll win most of the time. But, if you want to take down enemies without a scratch, and get those ultra cool counterattack animations, then keep reading, as we've got some tips to help you become a parry god.

Tip #1: Be prepared to fail

Just like in other games where parrying is a significant part of the combat, you're not going to have perfect counters right away. Not every enemy has the same attack pattern, either, so even later in the game, you can't expect to come out of a fight without taking a hit just because you did it in the past. So, for this tip, it's pretty simple. Don't lose heart just because you take a hit, or even get wiped. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can be tough, especially if you're taking on foes above your weight class.

Still, persistence is key with parrying. You will be able to defeat that enemy, to learn that combo, so long as you don't mind taking the odd hit here and there. It's a learning experience, getting into the rhythm of your enemies.

Tip #2: Not all enemies will sway to the same rhythm

Speaking of rhythm, some enemies will purposefully break their own combo just to make you waste your parry chance. With slow attacks, you might get another opportunity to parry, but that is a rare case indeed. To beat those enemies who want to bait you in, it's best to watch their weapons, rather than let yourself slip into expecting when you think they'll strike. Don't press that all-important button until the moment before you get struck, and you'll be able to counter enemies even as they try and fake you out. Again, you might take some hits learning which attacks are real, but so long as you're learning, you're on your way to becoming a parry god.

Tip #3: Don't dodge

This goes exactly against what Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tells you to do. In order to avoid damage, you might want to dodge if you don't know what an enemy is up to, as there is a larger window for a dodge to be effective. However, as dodging is just a poor man's parry in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I'd recommend just going all-in on the parries. If you get used to the more generous dodge window, you'll find it tougher to then work with the smaller timings of parries. Also, you then won't have to worry about pressing the wrong button, and costing yourself a counterattack. It's worth noting so long as you didn't take any damage and parry the last blow of a combo, your character will do a counter, but we're becoming parry gods here, not dodge gods, so leave the acrobatics to the gymnasts.

Tip #4: Your ears are as valuable as your eyes

A couple of tips ago, I said that you'll want to watch your enemies hands or weapons to know when the strike is about to hit, but you might also be able to hear audio queues that let you know when your face is about to get mashed. These can be more useful than visual queues, which can lie to you about when you might get hit thanks to enemies baiting out your parry later in the game. We're not saying close your eyes and rely only on your ears, but make sure that you're keeping them open for when an enemy rushes up to you. Not all attacks have audio queues, but enough of them do to make it worth ensuring you're listening in.

Tip #5: Make the most of your parries with Pictos

Just like any sort of build or specialisation in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you can enhance your parries greatly with Pictos. Whether it's gaining life on parries, getting extra break damage with counterattacks, or getting more AP each time you parry, it's certainly worth getting a few Pictos or Luminas across your characters which will make the time you've spent learning how to parry more worthwhile. You might even want to throw in a Confident Picto in there too, as you won't necessarily need healing if you're not taking damage thanks to all your parrying skill.

These are just a few ways you can improve your parry game in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and turn even the hardest difficulty into an easier time. If you've got any other tips after becoming a parry god, be sure to share them with us. Tomorrow comes!