Parrying. In Valheim, learning how to parry’s vitally important. Parrying allows you to knock back enemies when they attempt to attack you, meaning that you can effectively avoid the damage and push enemies away - giving you more time to recover and attack back. However, learning how to parry in Valheim isn’t always easy, and parrying isn’t a “one size fits all” technique. Given this, today, we’re learning everything you need to know about how to parry in Valheim; hopefully, this will help you find the right approach to take with your own battles.

What is Parrying in Valheim?

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Before we go any further, it’s first important that we clarify what parrying is in Valheim. Simply put, parrying is the art of blocking an incoming attack through a unique defensive maneuver, thus serving to reduce the damage received during an attack and also staggering the enemy, knocking them back a certain distance depending on the success of the parry.

Without a doubt, although it can be a little fiddly to pull off when you’re just learning the game, parrying is an incredibly handy skill. Indeed, parrying allows you to simultaneously protect yourself from damage and knock back an enemy, making it a very helpful move that can potentially even turn the tide of a battle in your favor.

Of course, given the fiddly nature of parrying in Valheim, learning how to parry is best done in the early game against weaker enemies, helping you learn to get the timing down before facing stronger opponents. After all, while you may not need to parry low-level opponents, it’s better to learn how to parry against these easy foes who aren’t going to do such severe damage if you get the timing wrong. This can serve you incredibly well in the later game, so it’s a useful skill to learn for sure.

Of course, given how important timing is when attempting to parry in Valheim, there’s really very little room for error. However, lag can make it incredibly tricky to time your parry perfectly; given this, starting your game on a private Valheim Server, such as our premium ScalaCube solutions, can offer a safer way to learn.

How to Parry in Valheim

By now, we’ve considered the value of learning how to parry - but how is a parrying maneuver actually done? Well, this is a somewhat fiddly technique to pull off, given that it’s all based heavily on timing; given this, you’ll definitely want to practice a lot to make sure you’re parrying successfully.

The actual process of parrying, fortunately, doesn’t require any particularly complex steps. Indeed, all you need to do is use the block move right before an enemy hits you; this will send them staggering backwards while simultaneously providing your character with protection from the incoming attack, making it a highly useful way to not only stay safe but also temporarily subdue an enemy.

How is Parry Strength Calculated in Valheim?

Parry strength is determined by two core factors: the parry force and the parry bonus of your weapon. Parry force simply determines how far enemies are knocked away from you when you successfully parry their attack; a parry score of 0 (as is the case for blocking with your fists) will not knock back at all, and increasing parry scores will expand the distance they are knocked back by. Thereafter, whether you stagger the enemy as well depends primarily on your parry bonus, which we’ll consider briefly in a moment.

Understanding the Valheim Parry Bonus

While the base parry force is pretty simple to understand, things get a little more complex when it comes to your parry bonus. Indeed, parry bonus determines whether or not your parry will stagger the enemy; in addition, your parry bonus is multiplied with the block power to determine how much damage will be negated when you block the attack.

FAQs

Does Valheim block force influence the success of a parry?

Block force does not directly influence the success of a parry in Valheim. However, it will multiply with your parry bonus when parrying to determine the final amount of damage that is negated by the parry.

What is the maximum parry bonus in Valheim?

The maximum parry bonus is generally 4x in Valheim. However, most weapons and shields will deal a parry bonus of around 1.5x to 2x.

Final Thoughts

In many cases, finding the right gameplay approach for your needs can be tricky; however, making sure you understand the different strategies for defence is one of the most important. As part of this, for your own Valheim game, knowing how to parry and understanding how block force and parry strength work is crucial. Fortunately, we’ve covered everything you need to know in today’s guide - so, all that’s left to do is work on mastering the art of how to parry yourself.