How Can I Stop Panic-button Mashing In Sekiro? - ResetEra

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How can I stop panic-button mashing in Sekiro?

• Thread starter Deleted member 46493
• Start date Aug 1, 2020

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Deleted member 46493

User requested account closure

Banned Aug 7, 2018 5,231 I'm giving Sekiro another try after being stuck on the last boss my last time. I'm starting from scratch. I'm overall doing okay but I'm often too eager to press L1 to block/parry as well as R1 to attack. This leaves me dead pretty often! Did anyone else go through this? I platinum'd Bloodborne and I like that it lets me be a messy player but I need to unlearn those habits. Did you practice anywhere in the game? Thanks for any help!

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge

Member Oct 26, 2017 76,191 Practice with the undying guy. Think percussion instrument as well. It's very musical weirdly.

Static

Avenger Oct 25, 2017 6,414 I practiced everywhere in the game. By gettin stomped six ways to sunday by most bosses long enough that I learn their wind-ups and rhythms. And then I don't have to mash block because I usually know what's comin when and it's not a super stressful mashfest. Basically... practice makes improvement. If not perfect.

Z-Beat

One Winged Slayer

Member Oct 25, 2017 33,189 Dodge/block the first couple of attacks so you can get a gauge for their timing and look. Then block out the visual noise and focus. It's mostly just practice. No one ever gets the parry right on the first few attacks. The parry will, however, be your best friend in regards to breaking posture. Some enemies have more obvious tells than others. Having spent so much time getting my ass kicked in fighting games I know the panic button mashing all too well. You just gotta tell yourself to calm down.

Sordid Plebeian

Member Oct 26, 2017 22,793 Sekiro was my first FromSoftware game I ever completed, and the two most valuable skills you can teach yourself for the game are patience and timing. Learn enemy attacks, know when to block, and learn the mikiri counter. It's one of those things you just gotta keep playing to learn, and make sure to put down the controller when you get stuck for a little while, it's easier when you're refreshed. Just started Bloodborne and I gotta get used to all those blunderbusses...

ArjanN

Member Oct 25, 2017 12,161

entremet said: practice with the undying guy. Think percussion instrument as well. It's very musical weirdly. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

This, the tutorial guy is pretty useful. You eventually get a decent feel for the timing with which most enemies attack. Also honestly spamming parry still works out quite often.

Static

Avenger Oct 25, 2017 6,414 Also, obvious thing that i somehow missed my entire fucking time playing the game: holding block while not being attacked regenerates your posture more quickly than not holding block.

Transistor

Chicanery

Administrator Oct 25, 2017 45,742 Washington, D.C.

entremet said: Practice with the undying guy. Think percussion instrument as well. It's very musical weirdly. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Truth. It's all about rhythm. Sekiro is more of a rhythm game than a Souls game, in many ways

GravaGravity

Member Oct 27, 2017 5,260 Honestly focusing on your breathing helps. Once you calm down and keep yourself in control it becomes easier to find the rhythm you need.

jett

Community Resettler

Member Oct 25, 2017 48,326 I'm sure you already know this since you made it to the final boss before, but you can mash L1 without any repercussions. There's no need to press R1 at the same time.

Static

Avenger Oct 25, 2017 6,414

jett said: You can mash L1 without any repercussions. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

If you're mashing, you're shrinking your parry window. If you aren't mashing, the parry window is actually super generous. So while mashing can work out, I don't know if I'd say no consequences.

Deleted member 4494

Banned Oct 25, 2017 4,798 With Sekiro, I remember a lot of the time being far too focused on the symbols that would pop up or glints, and not focused enough on the actual *animations* of the enemies. Usually if you can identify what they're doing early enough, then you're so prepared for the eventual move that the symbols are just unnecessary reminders -- this keeps you from panic, and is the best defense against that kind of behavior. Unfortunately, this often means that you will die more often initially from spending time analyzing and not reacting. When it comes to the *really* nasty battles in the game, trust me, analyzing behaviors is exactly the solution to the move forward rather than relying on split-second reactions. The latter can clutch some fights in the game for sure, but the fights that will break you are better fought never taking any damage at all because you simply had keyed in reactions for literally everything. The other thing is obvious, but just keep reminding yourself that slow and steady reactions and safety are keys to success in that game. Sometimes it hurts to miss a punish, or not get in as much damage due to overzealous defense, but it never hurts as much as a game-over.

jett

Community Resettler

Member Oct 25, 2017 48,326

Static said: If you're mashing, you're shrinking your parry window. If you aren't mashing, the parry window is actually super generous. So while mashing can work out, I don't know if I'd say no consequences. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

You'll get several parries during a block string when mashing. If you don't return kuro's charm, there's really not much to it. Trying to get a perfect parry every time is just going to lead to pain.

Static

Avenger Oct 25, 2017 6,414

jett said: Trying to get a perfect parry every time is just going to lead to pain. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

lol very fair.

Kieli

Self-requested ban

Banned Oct 28, 2017 3,736 Treat it like a rhythm game such as DDR. You don't button mash DDR, one would hope.

Deleted member 50658

Banned Dec 8, 2018 1,911 Play it like you would guitar hero or rockband mentality that mashing buttons is worse than sometimes missing a single note. Like already mentioned this is more or less a rhythm game and figuring out the songs (enemies/bosses) is how you play the instrument 😉

Deleted member 23046

Account closed at user request

Banned Oct 28, 2017 6,876 My only (complete) NG run is far away now but the first thing with bosses is to safely remove 26% of their health. Before that you won't do enough damage to their posture if you aren't a speedruner. So just dance with them, doge, block, parry, run, learn how to heal safely - and land one or two secure hit to reach that 74% threshold. After that you can play aggressively to force opponents to ruin their posture themselves, or securely in a war of attrition. Also remember that block is extremely powefull in this game, something counter-intuitive when coming from other Souls. Me I have almost never used any Shinobi arts (except Mikiri and a bit of Ishimonji) and always kept my "holy signs" for bombs.

Murr

Banned Dec 5, 2019 366 The weak swordsman clings to victory. He thinks of his life, his obligations, the outcome of the battle, his hatred for his opponent, his training, his pride in his mastery. By doing so, he is an imperfect vessel for the terrible fires of Will. He will surely crack. He will not laugh uproariously if he is cleft in two by his opponent's blade. When his sword is shattered, his hands will be too reserved to tear his enemies' flesh. But seriously just keep dying until you don't fear it in the least.

Daxa

Member Jan 10, 2018 630 You can often get a second parry before the enemy hits if you hit it too early the first time. I did that a bunch. You don't get punished for parrying early basically.

Teuthex

Member May 31, 2019 724 The best tip I ever read for Sekiro: you have two modes, attack and defense, and they key is to know when to switch between them. The thing to watch for is the big burst of sparks + the sharp clang. You attack until you see this (the enemy has parried you) then immediately switch to defense until you see the same (you have parried them). This is how you know when to stop attacking, and when its safe to attack, and keep the pressure on and their posture gauge full. If an enemy is giving you trouble, it is also worth kiting and chipping away at them a bit, going for HP damage rather than posture damage so that they don't recover posture so quickly. Half HP is usually enough.

2b_miner

Member Mar 7, 2019 271

Deleted member 46493 said: I'm giving Sekiro another try after being stuck on the last boss my last time. I'm starting from scratch. I'm overall doing okay but I'm often too eager to press L1 to block/parry as well as R1 to attack. This leaves me dead pretty often! Did anyone else go through this? I platinum'd Bloodborne and I like that it lets me be a messy player but I need to unlearn those habits. Did you practice anywhere in the game? Thanks for any help! Click to expand... Click to shrink...

The best place where I learnt not to panic block was at the tower right before the Genichiro fight, it's also a great place to understand how the parrying system works when you have multiple enemies...plus the genichiro fight itself teaches you the fallacies of panic blocking...

Kill3r7

Member Oct 25, 2017 32,286 Sekiro's combat is like a formal dance. Don't rush or you will step on your partner's toes.

2b_miner said: The best place where I learnt not to panic block was at the tower right before the Genichiro fight, it's also a great place to understand how the parrying system works when you have multiple enemies...plus the genichiro fight itself teaches you the fallacies of panic blocking... Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Yep. Even Genichiro is a good boss to practice on.

Jimnymebob

Member Oct 26, 2017 24,031 Being aggressive helps a lot in most cases on Sekiro, outside of bosses before their posture is low. Against random enemies, just keep the pressure on, and find the parry rhythm when it's their turn. Perfect parrying isn't necessary on NG, so you can afford to be sloppy in your timing, as long as you don't go L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 in between each attack.

DoppelGengar

Member Oct 25, 2017 1,687 Farming runs are great parry timing practice, since your facing the same enemy over and over. The asshole purple ninjas have a pretty good mixture of quick flurries and single staggered attacks to practice with.

Wink784

Member Oct 27, 2017 1,208 Stop caring about dying. Watch the enemy's moves, think about them and try to memorise the tells of which animation leads to which move and test with what timing to parry or dodge. Then execute, doesn't matter how many tries it takes.

bombermouse

Member Oct 25, 2017 2,115 You can spam block and get away with parrying that way. You don't need the timing, just spam it. Just holding block will also save you from most attacks.

ugoo18

Member Oct 27, 2017 158 Sekiro for me was all about patience, timing and getting in rhythm to be honest (it really is like a rhythm game in a sense). Genichiro was basically where the entire combat system clicked for me because prior to that I felt like i was trying to brute force everything. Another thing for me and this may be weird or sound stupid but ignore enemy hp, i began to see the parry meter as the hp meter more than the actual hp meter. From then on (and Genichiro of course) the combat of the game clicked for me in regards to parrying, timing and handling enemies.

Yibby

Member Nov 10, 2017 2,422 It took me the whole game, just to realize at the end boss that there is a different sword sound when your attacks get parried and the boss is about to attack. So you can actually hear when you should start parrying his attacks. A bit late for me, but i guess without this knowledge i would still be at phase 1 of the endboss ...

tareqsalah

Banned Nov 6, 2017 243 Don't feel bad if you can't beat a boss. I finished the game 5 times and still couldn't beat father owl fairly. I had to cheese him every time

Gustaf

Banned Oct 28, 2017 14,926 Dont hesitate, because hesitation is defeat

Issen

Member Nov 12, 2017 7,643 I literally never stopped doing this throughout the entire game. For me, the only solution was to just die a bunch of times to every new enemy type until I got used to their patterns and so could tell what was coming and not panic button mash. Even then I still do it every now and then. Also, even though you didn't say anything about it in your post, I'll still mention it because it's a very common sentiment with From Software games: Change the way you view defeat. The game is trying to teach you that there is no shame in failure, that it's just a means to improvement and eventual success. Dying a LOT is part of the intended game experience.

Zaheer

Member Oct 27, 2017 2,568 Get to Ashina Castle and just keep fighting enemies and Genichiro until you beat him. Genichiro basically solves this issue and sets you up for the rest of the game.

zma1013

Member Oct 27, 2017 8,550 Go in with the sole purpose of finding a move that you can punish. Once you identified an enemy move that you can safely attack after, then just focus all other energy on defense and avoiding every single other attack until the enemy uses the one move that you know how to punish. OP OP

Deleted member 46493

User requested account closure

Banned Aug 7, 2018 5,231 Late update - I beat the game and I'm already deep into NG+. Thanks everyone for the tips! You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link

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