Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: How to Improve Parry Timing and Make Parrying Easier

One of the most important mechanics to learn in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, if you want to go far, is parrying. During enemy turns, you can parry their attacks and turn what was effectively their turn into yours and deal massive damage. Your time in the game will be a lot easier if you master parrying, so this Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 guide reveals how to improve parry timing and make parrying easier.

How Do You Improve Parry Timing and Make Parrying Easier in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?

If you've gone through the parry tutorial in the game and are still struggling to get to grips with the mechanic, please see below for a selection of guided tips and suggestions to help you get better and improve parry timing.

Understand What a Parry Is and How to Parry

Firstly, it is really important to understand what a parry actually is. A parry is not a block — you should not be holding the parry button or pressing it repeatedly. A parry is a precisely timed move that uses the momentum of an enemy's attack against it. In this case, it sets up a counterattack for either a single character in your party or the whole team.

These counterattacks are very powerful in Expedition 33, and can deal more damage than your own attacks or Skills.

If you're still wondering how to parry, you need to press the parry button (R1 on PS5) just before the enemy is about to hit you with their own weapon — this could be anything from a standard sword to lightning bolts.

If you press the button too early, you'll have wasted your chance to parry; you can't press the button over and over again like in Sekiro and still expect to parry. If you press the button too late, then the enemy will attack you and deal damage as usual.

You must press the button to parry just before the enemy deals damage; think of it like your weapon is going to clash with theirs at the last second — that's how tight the window is.

Observe and Learn How to Dodge First

Before mastering the parry timing for every enemy in the game, you'll first need to actually see their attacks in motion so you can understand what you're parrying and when to do it. This is where the dodge ability comes in.

Alongside parrying, you can also dodge enemy attacks. This move has a bigger and longer window to allow you to avoid taking damage from enemy attacks. As such, watch the enemy as it winds up for an attack and dodge as its weapon is coming towards you.

Watch the animation closely and observe where the weapon is at the point it would have struck you if you hadn't dodged. That's the point you need to parry at. Repeat this process until you feel confident you've got the timing down for a parry — if you're getting perfect dodges, then time your parries the same way.

Wait for the Enemy to Commit

One of the biggest factors that'll make you fail a parry is an enemy trying to trick you, or performing a fake-out. This is where it looks like it's going to attack, but it actually continues its normal animation and keeps on winding up for an attack. If you press the parry button at this point, the enemy will likely attack straight after and you won't be able to parry them.

You can't parry an enemy that hasn't attacked, so hold your button press for the moment they actually commit. You'll likely get tricked by them a few times before you recognise their attack patterns, but once you do, don't get too eager.

Listen Out for Audio Cues

The game doesn't tell you this, but there are actually audio cues you can also listen out for alongside visual ones to help improve your parry timing. Alongside attacking, there'll be a faint "swish" sound that plays. If you press the parry button immediately after hearing this, you'll successfully parry the enemy.

Accept That You'll Likely Fail at First

It may seem difficult at first, but try and not let the frustrations get to you: it's likely you'll fail at first. There are lots of enemy types in the game, all with their own attack patterns — and, as such, parry windows and precise timings.

You're unlikely to perfectly parry an enemy combo the very first time you encounter one. So, while you should be giving it a go, accept that you probably won't be successful enough to perform a counterattack. Fall back on the dodge so you don't take any damage, and then return to parrying once you feel confident you've got the timing down.

Consider Lowering the Difficulty Level

If you've tried all our tips and suggestions, then there's one more option you can try: simply lowering the difficulty. The game has a story mode difficulty level where the timing windows for both parrying and dodging are bigger, meaning it'll be easier to do them.

There is no setting in the game that lets you turn off parrying — it's a core mechanic that's designed into the game — but there are ways to make the feature easier to perform.

Did you find our guide covering how to improve parry timing and make parrying easier in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 useful? Let us know in the comments and check out our Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 guide for more help and information.