How to parry in Nioh 3: Unlocking Deflect explained

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Building on the traditions of games like Dark Souls, Nioh 3 adds a new defensive move to the series: the Deflect. This allows players to precisely time blocks and deflect enemy attacks, something not previously available in Nioh games.

Many players struggle with parrying when they first start the game – if you’re one of them, you’re not alone!

Let’s talk about parrying in Nioh 3 – what it is and how to get started.

How to unlock the parry in Nioh 3 explained

In Nioh 3, blocking attacks with a precise timing – called ‘parrying’ – requires you to first unlock the ‘Deflect’ skill. You can find this skill within the Martial Arts or Ninjutsu section of the menu.

To get this item, you’ll need a Samurai’s Lock. You can only obtain these after you beat Yamagata Masakage in the first area of the game.

After obtaining Samurai’s Locks, go to the Martial Arts/Ninjutsu menu. Choose the Samurai upgrade icon, then select the skill node to the right of the center one and buy the ‘Deflect’ skill.

As a Ninja player, I was a little bummed to find out we don’t have a straight-up parry like the Samurai do. But don’t worry, you can get some similar abilities later on! If you unlock the Tonfas, you get this skill called Impenetrability, and the Dual Hatchets unlock Tile Shaker, which both help with defense in their own way.

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How to parry in Nioh 3 explained

After learning the Deflect skill, blocking attacks in Nioh 3 works similarly to parrying in other games like Dark Souls.

Just before an enemy attack hits, press L1/LB on your controller to perform the parry.

This move prevents all incoming damage and won’t use any of your Ki. It also deals a small amount of Ki damage to your opponent.

Unlike most games similar to Dark Souls, successfully blocking an attack in Nioh 3 doesn’t halt the enemy’s entire attack sequence – they’ll finish their combo, so be careful!

The parry move won’t defend against attacks with a red glow – those need to be countered with a Burst Break. And a Burst Break can’t block standard attacks; you’ll need to use your regular parry for those.

Authors

Alex RaisbeckGaming writer

Alex Raisbeck writes about video games for TopMob, covering both big-name titles and smaller independent games. He’s also contributed to several other gaming publications, including VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, and PCGamesN.

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2026-02-05 20:39