Win the next fight: blocking, stamina and recovery

Stop attacking before you empty your stamina. Read the next strike, use a correct directional block for a normal attack, and dodge an unblockable strike sideways or backward. A timed Perfect Block restores stamina and creates your next opening.

Practise this against a single readable opponent before adding long attack strings or extra abilities. The steps below use action names, so they still apply when you remap the keys.

Choose the response

What is coming	Your response	Why
A normal strike, direction readable	Hold Block and choose the matching direction	A successful directional block does not consume stamina.
A normal strike, timing readable too	Choose that direction just before the hit while holding Block	A Perfect Block restores some stamina and opens the enemy to attack.
A normal strike, uncertain direction	Holding Block gives Omniblock, subject to your setup	It protects at a stamina cost. Repeated use can exhaust you.
An unblockable strike	Dodge sideways or backward	Blocking is not the answer to the unblockable indicator.
A left/right strike you can time	A correctly timed dodge into the incoming attack’s left/right direction	A Perfect Dodge avoids stamina cost and creates an opening.

“Into the attack’s direction” for a Perfect Dodge means left or right, not straight forward into the enemy. The dodge tutorial warns that a forward dodge can still get you hit. Correct timing with an incorrect left/right direction can avoid the stamina cost, but that alone does not prove you evaded the strike or earned the same opening.

Basic action versus upgrade

A Perfect Block is the direction-and-timing combat action. The perk named improves how much stamina and charge it restores. You do not need to buy that upgrade before practising the basic action. Likewise, the perk reduces the cost of holding-block defence; it is not a reason to ignore the direction mechanic.

Practise one exchange

Choose a manageable single opponent or an available training encounter. Enemy timing varies, so begin with an opponent whose attacks you can read.

Prepare first. Draw a weapon for a weapon fight: the tutorial warns that bare-handed defence cannot block weapons or deadly creatures. Check your current form’s healing quickslots and equipment.
Watch one strike without trying to attack. Identify whether it is normal or unblockable. On presets with the directional indicator enabled, read the incoming direction.
Hold Block and choose the matching direction. Aim first for a successful normal directional block. It avoids the ordinary stamina cost; do not add a timing goal until you can choose the direction reliably.
Move the direction input closer to impact. A Perfect Block uses that direction just before the hit. The Story, Fair and Challenging tutorial presets show a timing change in the indicator; custom settings may differ.
Use the opening for one deliberate attack. Then prepare for the next strike. The point of the drill is a repeatable recovery cycle, not a long damage string.
Add direction variety after the defence is stable. Attacking repeatedly from one direction raises the enemy’s chance to block according to the attack tutorial. Vary directions instead of repeatedly forcing the same blocked hit.

At zero stamina, Coen becomes Fatigued: attacks are slower and less effective. If your next swing would leave no room for a defensive mistake, pause the attack sequence and look for a controlled block or opening. gives more capacity, while helps a dodge-heavy approach. Neither replaces choosing the right response.

When enemies group up

The immediate goal is fewer simultaneous threats in view, not winning several independent timing checks at once. Try these in order:

Make space before committing to an attack. Reposition so enemies approach from a narrower front. Do not assume a doorway always prevents attacks; verify the actual terrain and animations.
Keep the next threat visible. Test the game’s free and locked camera modes. If lock-on makes a second attacker disappear off-screen, use the mode that lets you see the group and adjust Camera Distance (Combat).
Shorten your follow-up. A successful block against one enemy is not proof that the others are idle. Use a short attack, then re-evaluate the surrounding animations.
Spend an equipped ability when its effect solves the immediate problem. Read its target, form, health and charge requirements. This guide does not assume a universal early crowd-control unlock.
Prepare again if the encounter still overwhelms you. Check the settings below, gear and healing access. More stamina helps repeated Omniblocks, but a capacity upgrade cannot guarantee safety from an unseen unblockable hit.

These are positioning and resource recommendations. Reassess them against the attacks and terrain of your current encounter.

Spend resources on purpose

Activation Charges pay for active abilities and Weapon or Claw Arts. They regenerate over time, and successful attacks and blocks speed recovery. Check current charges and maximum capacity: an upgraded ability costing more than your maximum cannot fire even if you wait.

Weapon Arts belong to the weapon you are using; Claw Arts belong to bracers and are performed while using claws. The art differs by item. On the Story and Fair keyboard presets, use Block plus Attack. The Challenging and Duelist keyboard presets also require the correct direction: check the item’s direction in Inventory. Custom settings and bindings can differ. Read the art’s cooldown and effect before treating it as your next answer.

Prepare consumables before combat. Quickslots have a per-encounter use limit, which can increase. Use the quickslot toggle to switch between abilities and consumables. Use the preparation sequence below before the next encounter.

Prepare for a fight

Check the current form, its equipment preset, and its quickslots before entering combat. Inventory has separate day and night equipment presets, including consumable quickslots. Active Abilities has separate day and night ability loadouts. Preparing one does not prepare both.

Preview the current form’s equipment in Inventory. Check the equipped weapon or bracers and the consumables you intend to use. The equipment presets switch at the start of day and night.
Assign healing to a consumable quickslot. A quickslot limits the number of items usable from it in one encounter. A large inventory stack does not remove that limit; raises the limit and works during both day and night.
Equip intended abilities in Active Abilities. Witchcraft works in human form, Vampirism in vampire form, and Swordmastery in either. Check the form, slot, charge cost and health cost together.
Use the quickslot toggle during combat. If healing is missing, you may be viewing ability quickslots. If Inventory refuses the item, inspect Use Consumables from Inventory in Combat; when it is off, combat consumables must be equipped in quickslots.
Recheck resources after the fight. Before entering another encounter, inspect health and the next loadout. Crafted consumables retain their effects in combat; food’s effects are reduced there.

Nighttime healing

Blood Drinking restores health in vampire form. Choose the method appropriate to the situation:

Already fighting: provides a quick drink from an enemy. Use the action shown in your controls and check that the target and ability are available.
Outside combat: can feed on unaware enemies or neutral creatures. Approach a suitable target and follow the available interaction prompt.
Carrying blood vials: place one in a nighttime consumable quickslot before the fight. The inventory-use setting above determines whether you can instead use it directly from Inventory during combat.

improves health restoration from drinking; increases maximum vampiric health. If you have no healing ready, purchasing capacity does not replace preparing a way to restore your current health.

Before a nighttime conversation: Blood Craving

At 1 segment of Vampiric Health, Coen becomes Hungry and craves blood. In that state, he may lose control during a conversation and drain the person he is talking to, even a friend. Restore blood and check the bar before speaking to someone you want to protect. Vampirism abilities also cost health, so recheck after using them.

Settings that change the answer

Settings separate execution difficulty from the numbers behind an encounter. Adjust the part that matches the failure, then return to the same single-exchange drill to see whether it helps.

Setting	What it controls	Investigate when
Action Difficulty	Adjust enemy attack speed and the difficulty of performing perfect blocks. At higher difficulty levels, some enemies use more complex attack patterns.	You read the direction but cannot react in time.
RPG Difficulty	Adjust enemy health and damage, as well as Coen's stamina levels.	A hit is too punishing, or exchanges empty your stamina.
Directional Indicator	Choose how enemy attacks are indicated. On: The direction of enemy attacks is shown with an on-screen indicator. Off: The direction of enemy attacks is indicated only by enemy animations.	Your screen lacks attack-direction cues.
Auto-Block	Choose how the game handles blocking in the wrong direction. On: Blocking in the wrong direction still succeeds, but consumes stamina. Off: Blocking in the wrong direction results in getting hit.	A wrong-direction block costs stamina in one setup but health in another.
Use Consumables from Inventory in Combat	Choose how consumables can be used in combat. On: Any consumable item in the inventory can be used during combat. Off: Only the consumable items equipped in quickslots can be used during combat.	You own a healing item but cannot use it through Inventory.
Camera Distance (Combat)	Adjust the camera position during combat.	A second enemy moves out of view.
Slow Motion on Perfect Blocks	Choose whether time slows down after a Perfect Block.	Perfect Blocks feel different from the footage you are following.

The Duelist preset describes no directional indicators; custom settings can differ. Read Directional Indicator if your screen does not show the cues used in a guide.

Diagnose the next failure

If camera movement or attacks visibly hitch even when your inputs are correct, start with the PC performance checks. Compare the same scene before changing your combat setup; a higher displayed FPS count alone does not tell you whether the hitch is gone.

You blocked but lost stamina: you may have used Omniblock, or a wrong directional block may have been rescued by Auto-Block. Practise the correct direction.
The direction was correct but the block was not perfect: work on the direction input’s timing; check Action Difficulty and the cue setting.
You dodged and were hit: avoid a forward dodge into the enemy, then check timing and the incoming left/right direction.
The opening worked but the counterattack was blocked: vary attack direction and shorten the sequence. Another enemy may already be attacking.
The ability is learned but absent or unusable: follow the form, slots and charges checks before buying damage ranks.

After identifying a repeated failure, choose one matching skill upgrade. Revisit the same problem before spending the rest of your points.