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Want to know how to guard counter in Elden Ring Nightreign? As you take on, fail, and successfully complete Expeditions, you’ll come across a wealth of weapon passives, relics, Dormant Rewards, and talismans that offer buffs to guard counters. However, in typical FromSoft fashion there’s not much in the way of a clear description about what a guard counter is and how to pull one off to make the most of these passives.
They are well worth learning how to do as guard counters dish out a counter attack with increased damage, including stagger damage that can break their stance and create an opening for a riposte critical hit. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to guard counter in Elden Ring Nightreign.
Guard an attack using L1/LT/left-click. Captured by VideoGamer
Immediately after blocking the attack, tap R2/RB/Ctrl+right-click to perform a guard counter. Captured by VideoGamer
How to guard counter in Elden Ring Nightreign
To do a guard counter, you’ll need to guard or block an attack then follow up immediately afterwards with a heavy attack. A guard eligible for a follow-up guard counter is any guard where you aren’t knocked back or stunned. The heavy attack needs to happen immediately after the block to trigger a guard counter.
In practice, guard counters work as follows for each platform:
| Platform | Controls |
|---|---|
| PlayStation | L1 followed by R2 |
| Xbox | LB followed by RT |
| PC | Right-click followed by Ctrl + left-click |
The timing may take a bit of practice, but you’ll want to listen out for the metal-on-metal “ting” audio cue confirming a successful guard counter. It’s well worth using the Sparring Grounds at the Roundtable Hold to practice guard countering to get a sense of how it works before trying it out on enemies out in Limveld during Expeditions.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that you aren’t invulnerable when performing a guard counter. You’ll still sustain damage and enemy attacks can even disrupt the guard counter if you’re character has a poor poise stat.
Can you perform a guard counter with every weapon type in Elden Ring Nightreign?
No, not all weapons can guard counter. To pull one off successfully, you’ll need to guard using either a shield or by two-handing a weapon. However, not all weapons can guard when two-handing them. This includes any ranged bow or crossbow and magic-dealing weapons like sacred seals and staffs. You can, however, have a shield in the left-hand slot and a ranged weapon/seal in the right and guard that way.
A further caveat is that you don’t necessarily want to be guarding or blocking with every weapon type. These are best performed with heavy weapons and shields rather than flimsy daggers, for example, because attacks are more likely to break through the guard or stun you using the latter. If this happens, you won’t have the option to guard counter.
Additionally, not all classes fare all that well when attempting guard counters. You’ll want to reserve it mainly for the Guardian. The reason for this is that his Steel Guard passive lets you block all and any attack as long as you have stamina, letting you chain guard counters to quickly stagger enemies. Though not exactly a classic guard counter, the Executor can parry and deflect attacks and then follow up with a poise-sapping follow-up counter. Think of this as similar to filling up an enemy’s posture meter in Sekiro.
For more general advice exploring Limveld, check out our Nightreign tips and tricks, how to unlock the Duchess and Revenant classes, and how to find the crest at the Sorcerer’s Rise locations across the map.
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Elden Ring Nightreign
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X
- Genre(s): Action RPG, Multiplayer, Roguelike
