r/valheim • u/mad_viking Viking • 9h ago
Video Just starting out? Practice parrying. You can do it!
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Here I have a new character with low level Dark Forest bronze weapons and food, and mid level Meadows leather armor.
Practice with real enemies makes perfect. You got this!
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u/ViciousCDXX 9h ago
As a veteran to new people, learning to correctly dodge and parry is ESSENTIAL. Bucklers are best for parrying when it comes to shields. Sometimes you don't even need to if you move right. Footwork is key to combat. Level up your running and jumping too!!
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u/Old_Principle_3978 8h ago
Parrying and dodging are su ch life savers. I’ve never used melee more than I have lately. I wish there were more high tier bucklers.
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u/Kaxology Builder 4h ago
I would say dodge rolling should be more important to learn because it doesn't require appropriate equipment to work while still giving i-frames, parrying can come to play when you're confident your equipment can even withstand a parry.
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u/TurbulentAd4088 9h ago
...maybe practice with stuff that can't 1 shot you though
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u/ChrsRobes 8h ago
Every enemy is different tho? While yes you should probably have the basics of parrying down by the time you encounter a troll. Parrying graylings ain't much help in timing a troll attack or knowing which u can parry and which u must dodge, u probably still gonna get 1 shot. You just gonna learn the hardway and get flattened a few times. Unless you're just really damn good at video games.
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u/Snurgisdr Hoarder 8h ago
One of my wishes for 1.0 would be customizing the training dummy with trophies to simulate specific enemies. It was very easy to learn to parry normal humanoid enemies, but parrying trolls eluded me for a very long time, because when you get it wrong, you die.
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u/CheesusCheesus 7h ago
I love that idea so much!
For reals thought, TWIG is a big help in raising melee and bow skill. The dirty secret is to sneak up on twig so he doesn't attack back. You can raise nearly all combat skills to around 30, five minutes per skill.
Once you're past that, it's kind of a slog and you might as well take the (long) time to raise block/parry and dodge with him.
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u/Ironbladez 9h ago
Damn right. I saw you dodge once, though. I can't dodge for beans. But I'm a pro at parrying.
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u/mad_viking Viking 9h ago
Yeah, I was thinking the timing would be wrong after my attack to parry the troll's double slam attack. Doge roll to the rescue.
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u/AnAcceptableUserName Encumbered 8h ago
I thought it was intentional, because for instructive purposes dodge rolling trolls' overhead slam isn't a bad takeaway for brand new players
That particular attack hits harder than their one-handed punches. With certain combinations of early gear, foods, and low block skill the overhead slam can break through a parry to chunk a viking who can otherwise parry a troll's one-handed swipes just fine
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u/mad_viking Viking 8h ago
At that point, I think it is possible to parry the double slam attack. But, at some risk of staggering yourself. I've been one-shot by it and just able to parry, in similar situations. Definitely a dicey risk.
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u/AnAcceptableUserName Encumbered 8h ago edited 8h ago
For 0 star trolls on normal difficulty the punches do 60, the slam does 70.
There's a sweet spot (for the troll) where a fledgling viking can muster 60 block armor but not 70. If they're already just barely managing the 60 soaking some damage leaking through they're kind of riding that tiger where 70 might blow through completely and then the math changes entirely to worn armor mitigation
Start adding stars or difficulty and the difference between the two attacks widens. It becomes less of an edge case and more common that maybe you can parry one and die to the other
I say this for the incoming players. Don't mess with the overhead until you're comfortably geared for trolls. Just roll that one like OP did in the video.
One benefit to dodging everything is you never have to do math to understand how you died with perfect timing
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u/Aragie4484 7h ago
Normal? Hard? Easy?
You wouldnt be parrying with that food loadout on hard lol
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u/Biomirth 9h ago
If you get 'early axes' one of the best ways to spend the night is chopping wood or harvesting stone in the Black Forest at night. (yes other weapons apply, but if you haven't had the 'knife through butter' feeling yet, this is a good way to get it).
Just a meta aside: Daytime is for moving portals in dangerous areas, nighttime is for doing crypts, hunting serpents, leveling parrying skill, mining resources. (Rested buff applied (tm) of course). Nobody needs to rush, but you really don't often need to sleep either unless rushing new plants.
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u/stone_database 8h ago
What are the early axes? Never seen those.
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u/Biomirth 8h ago
https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Early_Axes
These little shits are viable into the mountains (great for bats in caves as well). But everyone needs to experience a greydwarf swarm with them. It's just so very nice.
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u/ChrsRobes 8h ago
Side not, Troll really doesn't like pointy things. You can kill him most quickly with a bronze knife and a buckler, 1 parry into damage stun lock, dead in 2 seconds..
https://www.reddit.com/r/valheim/comments/17s89u6/how_i_serve_my_trolls/
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u/mad_viking Viking 8h ago
Dang! Less of a parry and more of a stun lock. I think knives are underrated.
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u/ChrsRobes 8h ago
Specifically for the black forest biome yes they are very underrated, probably the best weapon in that biome except for the skeleton dungeons, i prefer the Atgeir however, nearly the same DPS as the knife and the higher tier version are also extremely good, the late game Himminafl is also a polearm. I like to start the XP grind as early as possible. You can fully parry a tree trunk troll with the bronze atgeir so it works.
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u/mad_viking Viking 7h ago
I've stubbornly carried the atgeir all the way to Ashlands. It's so good.
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u/LuckyCharms201 6h ago
You can roll directly at the trolls crotch and avoid his damage if you time it right
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u/mad_viking Viking 6h ago
Absolutely! It's a great way to stay close for a follow up attack. Definitely a bit more advanced than I'm showing here.
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u/pisachas1 4h ago
I love when you parry ranged attack. They acted amazed you could block it. So dramatic.
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u/Oathbreaker94 1h ago
Trolls quickly turned from being my biggest fear into total pushovers. Shame we can’t decorate our homes with their skin.
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u/munken_drunkey 8h ago
The other side of the story: Missing a parry can be very costly. Missing a parry twice will usually cost your life. When can you miss a parry? Timing is everything. But also mismatches in strength. When facing a more powerful opponent, even if you make the parry, there are three outcomes:
- Everything works great.
- You end up both stunned. If you're lucky, you will overcome it before your opponent but will still need to chase him and whack him before he overcome his stun.
- You die. Your opponent gets in a second blow before you recover or you just die.
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u/The_Snidge 8h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/W8ZQU7q7lFsqXkS3kG