How to dodge and parry in Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom brings back a lot of mechanics that first appeared in Breath of the Wild. So if you’ve mastered them there, then you should have no problems. But newcomers may struggle to get their heads around what’s going on here. This will be a quick rundown of the Dodge and Parry you can use in Tears of the Kingdom.

Tears of the Kingdom: How to dodge and parry

First things first, Tears of the Kingdom does have a combat tutorial that will walk you through the basics. It’s located to the north of Lookout Landing in the Kyononis Shrine. Unfortunately, you can’t access this until you get to the ground after finishing locations like the Gutanbac Shrine. But if you haven’t quite got the hang of things, head straight for the combat tutorial when you’re able to.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Let’s start with dodging which is the easier of the two skills to learn. You can sidestep and backflip by holding ZL to target and pressing Y while moving in a direction. This is one of the best abilities Link has since it gives him a way to gain distance from enemies. And if you time a dodge just as an enemy is about to hit Link, you’ll enter the Flurry Rush state. This is when time slows down, and you get the chance to land a bunch of hits on an enemy.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Parrying works in a very similar way to dodging. First, you’ll need to have a shield. Then you simply hold ZL to target and press A to parry just as an enemy’s attack is about to hit Link. This is harder to do than dodging but allows you to effectively deflect ranged attacks too. It’s also good for when there’s not quite enough room to dodge.

I can think of a lot of situations where I accidentally backflipped off a cliff while trying to dodge. So, learning to parry is a good idea and can save you from some embarrassing moments. Both of these techniques require some practive, so don’t get too upset if you can’t nail them the first few times.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.