Sword Fighting Game: Duel

How to play

1. Your opponent raises his sword to your left, overhead or to your right, then strikes. Parry that side before the blade lands: tap LEFT, HIGH or RIGHT, swipe, or use the arrow keys.
2. A ring appears on the button you need and shrinks as the blow comes. Parry while it is inside the gold band for a perfect parry.
3. A perfect parry opens a riposte: tap the knight within a second to strike him. Ripostes are what beat a knight; his health bar shows how many he can take.
4. Three perfect parries fill your Valour and light the Mighty Blow button: two hits at once. Use it between his attacks.
5. New to it? The training yard teaches every move in about a minute, with nothing to lose.

Tips

• Do not guess. Parry only once the ring is on a button; on a feint it jumps, so follow it.
• Ordinary parries keep you alive, perfect parries win: early in a duel, aim for the gold every time.
• Save the Mighty Blow for the pause after a combo, or press it the moment he starts a wind-up to strike first.
• Five perfect parries in a row win back a heart, and beating a knight restores one too.

How to win the duel

Every knight fights in a style of his own, and each one is introduced with a tip before the fight.

• The Squire is slow and honest: the place to practise perfect parries.
• The Brute is slow but tough. Only ripostes hurt him, so be patient for the gold.
• The Trickster feints: his blade starts one way and switches. Wait for the ring to settle.
• The Berserker strikes in twos and threes. Parry each blow, then use your Mighty Blow in the pause.
• The Swift is very fast. Read the blade early and accept ordinary parries.
• Champions come after that, mixing every trick and growing faster each time.

When a duel ends, the game tells you what hit you most often (slow parries, the wrong side or feints) and what to change.