'Zelda: Breath of the Wild' How to Parry: Using shield combat to disrupt enemy attacks

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, combat is more fleshed out than it's been in any game in the series before it. As we saw in the making of Zelda videos, there are a lot of options when it comes to combat that you're probably not making use of. Some are advanced like baseball with a Bokoblin or using fire to create an updraft so you can paraglide up and then rain death upon your enemies. But there are even simpler methods for upping your combat game too. We're talking, of course, about the parry.

Parrying is a key and often overlooked move in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Here's how to do it.

How to parry in Zelda: Breath of the Wild: What exactly is the parry?

One of the earliest glimpses in BotW came from the scene above, taken from the official Zelda trailer released in January. Parrying is when you use your shield to deflect an enemy's attack. When you conduct a successful parry, your opponent will be frazzled, left wide open for attack and perhaps even drop their weapon on the ground. You can run and grab these weapons to really leave your opponent defenseless. 

How to parry in Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Basic technique

To properly parry in BotW you'll want to raise your shield and lock on to a nearby enemy by pressing the ZL button. While holding down that button you can press A to swing your shield. You'll want to time this with an enemy's attacks to properly send them flying. Make sure you're swinging your shield right as the person or monster you're fighting against makes contact. This will slow down time, knock them back and allow you to return a counter blow. 

Parrying works on nearly all enemies, ranging from Bokoblin to Lizalfos. You can even parry Guardians.

How to parry in Zelda: Breath of the Wild: You can even parry Guardian blasts

You can even parry Guardian laser blasts. If you're still without the Master Sword (which does double damage against the ancient machines), you can use your shield to fight them. As seen below.

Youtube user GirKart64 shows us that when you hit the A button right when the Guardian emits that bass-filled sound after locking on, you can wave its attack right back at it. Make sure you don't do it too soon, though. We'd also recommend wearing clothes while fighting the Guardians. No matter how much people like a shirtless Link.

Check out more Zelda: Breath of the Wild coverage

Find out all there is to know about Zelda: Breath of the Wild, including how to preserve your items, how to beat bosses like the Stone Talus and Lynel, the best recipes for Link and how to take on the game's shrines. You can also learn what went into making Breath of the Wild. You'll also want to find out where all the great fairies are in the game and how to use amiibo with your version of Zelda.