Parrying

Parrying is the universal complete-block skill — every successful parry fully nullifies an incoming melee swing or archery shot. Unlike Resisting Spells (partial reduction) or armor (damage absorption), a successful parry takes the hit to zero. The skill is the cornerstone of every tank build in the game and the only defensive option that scales independently of HP, MR, or weapon skill.

Block mechanics

A parry roll fires on every melee or archery attack landed against the parrier. The roll outcome is binary: pass = full block, fail = no protection. A failed parry leaves the wielder defended only by the shield's intrinsic Resistances and other item properties.

The base parry chance with a shield equipped follows:

parry_chance_pct = (Parrying / 4) × (DEX_factor)

where DEX_factor scales from 0% at 0 Dexterity to 100% at 80 Dexterity. 80 Dexterity is the threshold for maximum parry effectiveness. Below 80 Dex the parry chance is proportionally reduced; above 80 Dex the formula plateaus.

Defense Chance Increase from items and the shield's intrinsic DCI add to the contested-roll, but the parry roll itself caps near 30% on a base shield. Shields with the Reflect Physical Damage property reflect a portion of the parried damage back at the attacker — a niche but real PvP option.

Parry with a weapon — the Bushido interaction

A character with both Parrying and Bushido changes the parry geometry. As Bushido rises, the Samurai's chance to block with a shield falls; instead, the Samurai gains the ability to parry with a weapon in hand, no shield required. The trade is symmetric — high-Bushido characters effectively cannot use shields competitively, but they can carry a katana, daisho, or no-dachi and parry incoming swings off the weapon itself.

A two-handed weapon grants an additional weapon-parry bonus on top of the standard formula:

The Bushido article in the Codex covers the full Whirlwind / Perfection / Evasion synergy stack. The takeaway for Parrying alone: a Samurai with a katana and no shield parries about as well as a sword + shield non-Samurai, and a Samurai with a no-dachi outparries either.

Evasion stacking

While the Bushido Evasion ability is active, the parry chance is sharply elevated and applies against all sources of damage — including direct spell hits like Flamestrike or Energy Bolt. This is the only mechanism in the game that can outright avoid direct spell damage. With 100 Anatomy, an additional small bonus applies to the Evasion-window parry chance.

Evasion + GM Parrying + GM Bushido + GM Anatomy + a two-handed katana is the canonical "parry a fireball" build configuration. The window is short (the Evasion duration is several seconds) and Evasion has its own cooldown, so the trick is timing the activation against an incoming boss-burst spell.

Throwing penalty

A Throwing-class Gargoyle equipping a shield while a Throwing weapon is in hand suffers a defense and hit-chance penalty — the shield-with-throwing tax. Investing skill points in Parrying offsets the penalty: at low Parrying, the penalty is severe; at GM Parrying, the penalty is largely neutralized and the Gargoyle gets defensive blocks on incoming melee while still throwing at range. This is the entire reason every Throwing build runs Parrying.

Special-move and mana-discount accounting

Parrying counts toward the standard special-move chain: 70 Parry + 30 Tactics for the primary, 90 Parry + 60 Tactics for the secondary. Parry-class weapons are not a thing — Parrying is invoked passively — but the skill does count toward the 200 / 300 combined-skill thresholds for the −5 / −10 mana discount on weapon specials, which is one reason warriors include Parrying in their combat-skill stack.

Skill Mastery — The Deflector

Reaching 90 real Parrying and reading any-tier Mastery Primer activates the Body Guard / Heightened Senses / Shield Bash mastery line — the only weapon mastery with three active abilities and no passive Warrior's Gifts.

Title: The Deflector. Body Guard is unique to Parrying — no other mastery offers ally-redirect damage. It is the build-defining ability for Champion-Spawn tank templates.

Training

The modern training method (post-Naked Parry rework) is rapid: a Parrying character can reach 120 from 0 in under an hour with the sheep-pen technique.

Pre-Naked-Parry training required armor with high physical resistance, Self Repair shields, hundreds of bandages, and Protection / Horrific Beast cycling. The old method took weeks; the new method takes an evening. The naked-parry method's requirements:

1. Cat Form (Ninjitsu) or Horrific Beast (Necromancy) for the HP regen.
2. 10–15 cheap shields (rotate as durability drops).
3. The Yew sheep pens or any low-DPS dense spawn.
4. No weapon or a non-skill weapon — if Wrestling is the wielder's main skill, hold an unfamiliar weapon so the sheep land more hits.

Build context

• Tank Sampire. 120 Parrying + 120 Bushido + 120 Anatomy = the Evasion-stacked tank. Parries fireballs in Doom, blocks every adjacent boss swing in Champion Spawns. Standard PvM tank template.
• Pure Shield Tank. 120 Parrying + GM Healing + 120 Resisting Spells + Tactics + Anatomy + a melee weapon skill. Shield + sword classic; uses Body Guard mastery for party defense.
• Throwing Gargoyle. 100–120 Parrying + 120 Throwing + Bushido. Free-hand Cyclone + shield = the Gargoyle's only defensive option at range.
• Stealth Parry. 120 Stealth + 120 Hiding + 120 Parrying + Ninjitsu Cat Form. Niche; uses parry for unstealth interruption from random hits.
• Wrestler-Parry hybrid. GM Wrestling + GM Parrying + a held shield. The shield provides the parry, Wrestling provides the off-skill defense. Old-school PvP mage tank.

Strategy notes

• 80 Dexterity is the magic number. Below 80, the parry formula scales the block chance down proportionally. Above 80, no further benefit. Every Parry build keeps Dex at 80+.
• Shield DCI matters. A Heater Shield with 15 DCI plus a Heritage Shield-of-Honor (15 DCI) at GM Parry pushes the contested-roll defense above the cap an attacker can punch through. The single highest-impact gear slot for tank defense.
• Reflect Physical Damage on a shield mirrors a portion of parried physical damage back. Stacks across multiple parries, can outright kill an attacker who keeps swinging.
• Two-Handed Bushido > Sword + Shield Bushido. Past 50 Bushido the shield-parry penalty starts to bite; commit to a katana or no-dachi if Bushido is the build's defining skill.
• Shield Bash mastery is shield-only. The mastery's signature ability does not fire if a weapon-parry Samurai is using a no-dachi. Heightened Senses works regardless.
• Body Guard requires line-of-sight to the ally. Cannot redirect damage through walls or tile gaps. Position the Body Guard within one tile of the protected target.

See also

Bushido, Anatomy, Tactics, Special Moves, Shield, Heater Shield, Heritage Shield of Honor, Defense Chance Increase, Reflect Physical Damage, Self Repair, Evasion, Cat Form, Horrific Beast, Throwing, Yew Sheep Pens, Spectral Spellbinder, Sampire, Champion Spawn, Body Guard, Heightened Senses, Shield Bash, Wrestling.