How to Parry in Nine Sols – Explained

Nine Sols is out now on PC, and it’s a 2D action title inspired partly by FROMSOFTWARE’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. This means that parrying is one of the core gameplay elements, and the game expects you to make good use of it. If you can’t quite figure out the timing or execution, here is how the parry system works in Nine Sols.

How Parrying in Nine Sols Works

To parry in Nine Sols, you need to press the parry button (LB/L1) as soon as you see the enemy’s weapon flash.

Here is what the weapon flash animation looks like:

As soon as you see the flash, hit the parry button (LB/L1), and Yi will perform a successful parry. Successful parries don’t result in the loss of HP.

It will be considered an imprecise parry if you hit the button before or after the flash.

Imprecise Parry Damage Intake

All incoming attacks that aren’t crimson should be parried regardless of the parry execution. If you perform an imprecise parry, you take less damage than a direct hit, and the health lost can be recovered.

So, even if you can’t get the parrying timing right, we still recommend that you mash that button if the incoming attack isn’t crimson. Those attacks need to be dodged with RT/R2.

In most cases, the parry window is fairly generous, but it becomes a bit tighter when you’re going off against bosses. We recommend sparring against the spear user in the early game because he has the trickiest timing for a starting enemy.

This covers the basics of how parrying works in Nine Sols. After you upgrade Yi, you’ll earn more skills that enhance his parrying capability, and allow you to deflect incoming projectiles as well. The fundamentals are the same though, and thankfully, the weapon flash animation is visible in almost all cases.

Looking to play Nine Sols on the go? Find out if you can play it on the Steam Deck, and how it performs.