To parry in Ghost of Tsushima, press L1, the block button, just before an enemy's attack lands instead of holding it down. Time it at the last possible moment and you get a Perfect Parry, which you can follow with Square or Triangle for a deadly counterattack that also earns Resolve. Attacks marked with a blue glint can only be parried after you learn the Unyielding Parry techniques, and red attacks cannot be parried at all, so you dodge those with Circle.
We checked the controls and techniques against the Ghost of Tsushima Fandom and Fextralife wikis, TheSixthAxis's technique guide, Gamepressure's and GameSkinny's combat guides, and Push Square's patch 1.05 coverage in November 2026. Buttons below use the default PlayStation layout.
Block, Parry and Perfect Parry
All three come from the same button, and the difference is entirely in timing. Holding L1 puts Jin in a guard that absorbs standard attacks. Pressing L1 just as a strike arrives deflects it, which is a parry. Pressing it at the last possible instant before the hit is a Perfect Parry, and that is the one you want.
The Perfect Parry is a technique in the Deflection tree, unlocked for a single Technique Point with no prerequisite. Its in-game description says it lets you "parry at the last possible second to perform a deadly counterattack" and earns a moderate amount of Resolve. After the deflection, press Square for a quick counter or Triangle for a heavy one. That Resolve matters more than it sounds: it is the same resource you spend to heal, so every Perfect Parry is effectively a small heal in reserve.
There is a direct reward for practicing, too. The bronze trophy Flash of Steel asks you to defeat 20 enemies with a counterattack after a Perfect Parry, so the practice routine below doubles as trophy progress.
Blue Glints, Red Glints and What to Do With Each
Enemy attacks come in three kinds, and recognizing them at a glance is most of the skill.
- Normal attacks: no special flash. Block, parry or Perfect Parry them freely.
- Blue glint: an unblockable attack that can still be parried, but only once you learn the matching technique. Unyielding Sword Parry handles the blue attacks from Mongol swords, and Unyielding Spear Parry handles blue spear attacks. Both work in any stance.
- Red glint: an attack that cannot be parried. Gamepressure's guide notes that these come especially from spear users and other large weapons, and very often from dogs and bears. Press Circle to dodge, or double-tap it to roll once you have the Roll technique.
GameSkinny describes spearmen as the main early headache for exactly this reason: their primary attack comes with a red glow, and early in the game you can only dodge it. After a red attack, Gamepressure suggests getting in two or three hits and then backing off, because the enemy may follow up with another red attack.
The stances help as well. The Wind Stance tree has a technique that automatically parries spear attacks during any Wind Stance attack, which takes a lot of pressure off once you have it, and each stance's heavy attacks deal extra Stagger damage to the enemy type it is built for.
The Deflection Techniques, in Order
The Deflection tree is tiered: to reach a tier, you need at least one technique from the tier before it. The Fandom wiki lists these seven, with their tiers and costs in Technique Points.
- Perfect Parry (tier 0, 1 point): the core skill described above.
- Perfect Parry Healing (tier 1, 1 point): Perfect Parries recover a small amount of health.
- Unyielding Sword Parry (tier 1, 1 point): parry blue-glint Mongol sword attacks.
- Deflect Arrows (tier 2, 1 point): parry incoming arrows and other projectiles while blocking.
- Resolved Parry (tier 3, 1 point): gain a moderate amount of Resolve from any parry or Perfect Parry.
- Unyielding Spear Parry (tier 3, 1 point): parry blue-glint spear attacks.
- Terrifying Parry (tier 4, 2 points): Perfect Parry counterattacks have a 20 percent chance to Terrify nearby enemies.
A sensible buying order is Perfect Parry, then Unyielding Sword Parry, then Deflect Arrows, because archers punish anyone who turtles behind a block. Resolved Parry and Perfect Parry Healing turn good defense into sustain, and Terrifying Parry is a strong finisher for players who like to break a group's nerve mid-fight. The matching Evasion tree ends in Perfect Dodge (tier 4, 2 points), which does for Circle what Perfect Parry does for L1.
Getting the Timing Right
Parry timing in Ghost of Tsushima is tight, and it also depends on difficulty. When Sucker Punch added the Lethal difficulty in patch 1.05, one of its listed changes was tighter parry and dodge windows, alongside deadlier and more aggressive enemies. If you are struggling, a lower difficulty widens the margin.
GameSkinny's advice is a good starting point: press L1 about a quarter to half a second before the hit lands, and allow a little extra for input delay depending on your setup. Their practice routine works well:
- Pick a camp of low-level Mongols early in Act 1 and drop stealth on purpose.
- Thin the group so only two or three enemies are attacking you.
- Focus on the enemies in bright yellow shirts, whose weapons hit softer and whose attacks are slow and easy to predict.
- Set a goal, such as three Perfect Parries in a row without taking damage, before mixing in counters.
Two habits ruin parries more than anything else. The first is holding L1 constantly; you will block, but you will never parry, because the parry comes from the press, not the hold. The second is reacting to the weapon instead of the body. Watch an enemy's wind-up and shoulder, not the blade, and you will find each enemy type has a rhythm you can learn. Brutes and shield-bearers swing differently from swordsmen, so treat each new enemy type as a fresh timing lesson rather than assuming your last success will carry over.
If you find the game's timing elements genuinely hard to manage, patch 1.05 also added the Lower Intensity Combat accessibility option. It makes most normally unblockable attacks blockable, has enemies break off their combos after damaging you and stops them attacking while you heal.
Charms and Armor That Make Parrying Easier
Several items widen the window or reward you more for hitting it. Our best charms guide and best armor guide cover them in more depth, but these are the ones built around deflection:
- Charm of Mizu-no-Kami: a major charm that makes parries, Perfect Parries and Perfect Dodges easier to perform. Push Square lists it at the Spring Falls Shrine in Act 1, so you can grab it early.
- Sarugami Armor (Iki Island): disables the normal parry entirely, but widens the Perfect Parry and Perfect Dodge windows, turns Perfect Parries into a chain of up to three attacks and increases Resolve gains. Our Iki Island guide explains how to get it.
- Mashira's Protection (Iki Island): from the monkey sanctuaries. Healing extends your Perfect Parry and Perfect Dodge windows for a limited time, at the cost of one extra Resolve per heal.
- Charm of Broken Barriers: a minor charm that grants 15 percent of Resolve when you break an enemy's defense, which pairs well with a parry-and-counter style.
Combine Mizu-no-Kami with the Sarugami Armor and the windows become noticeably more forgiving, though the Sarugami's missing normal parry means a mistimed press simply takes the hit.
Parrying in Duels, Legends and New Game+
Duels are where parrying matters most, because a one-on-one opponent gives you nowhere to hide. Learn each duelist's rhythm over a couple of attempts rather than forcing counters, and keep Resolve in reserve for heals. The wiki notes that the final story duel is unusually forgiving, since your opponent will not finish you off if you lose.
The same system carries into Legends, the co-op mode, where Gold and Nightmare missions fail on a death, so clean Perfect Parries are worth even more there. In New Game+, the difficulty is raised automatically to tiers such as Hard+ and Lethal+, so expect less room for error; our New Game+ guide explains how you can lower it if needed.
Practice Without the Grind
Early-game Technique Points and resources are the slow part of getting a full defensive kit. If you would rather start practicing with everything open, the store's post-tutorial modded save begins right after the tutorial with max rank, all stances unlocked, and max cloths, goods, metals and wood, so you can upgrade your armor and sword as soon as you reach an Armorer or Swordsmith.
Platform matters here: that save works on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, not on the PC release. A copy of the game is required, because only the save itself is sold, and the store team transfers it to your profile after you submit your account handover details. You will still need to learn the timing yourself, of course; no save can do that part. Everything else on offer is listed on the Ghost of Tsushima hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
What button is parry?
L1 on PlayStation, the same button as block. Press it just before the hit instead of holding it.
How do you parry blue attacks?
Learn Unyielding Sword Parry for blue sword attacks and Unyielding Spear Parry for blue spear attacks, both in the Deflection tree.
Can you parry red attacks?
No. Red-glint attacks have to be dodged with Circle or avoided with a roll.
How do you unlock Perfect Parry?
Spend one Technique Point on it in the Deflection section of the Samurai techniques. It has no prerequisite.
Which charm makes parrying easier?
The Charm of Mizu-no-Kami, from the Spring Falls Shrine, makes parries, Perfect Parries and Perfect Dodges easier.
Does difficulty change the parry window?
Yes. Lethal difficulty uses tighter parry and dodge windows, so lowering the difficulty makes parries more forgiving.