Beginner's Guide: Combat, Parries & the Light Sphere

Read the color before pressing the button

• Yellow flash: parry. A successful parry interrupts the enemy and helps build Focus.
• Red flash: dodge. Treat it as unblockable rather than trying to perfect-parry it.
• No colored warning: block or reposition depending on the weapon and angle.

The common beginner mistake is watching Sophia instead of the attacker. Keep the camera wide enough to read the next threat; finishing the enemy in front of you is less important than avoiding the red attack arriving from the side.

Use the grappling hook as control

The hook is not just a traversal prompt. It can pull an enemy off balance, drag elevated archers into reach and interact with marked objects. Use it to create a safe one-on-one exchange rather than saving it for a dramatic finisher.

Throwables and ledges serve the same purpose. A bottle that stuns two attackers is often more valuable than a small amount of direct damage.

Focus attacks

Focus unlocks during Chapter 4. Parries and strong combat play fill the yellow gauge; the special attack can hit a group and create breathing room. Do not spend it on the final weak enemy in a wave. Carry a full gauge into a difficult room when the route allows it.

Stealth and the Creature

Stealth is secondary to combat in ordinary encounters, but Creature sequences change the rules. Moving too aggressively can leave a light trace and environmental particles can betray your route. Break line of sight, use cover, and move with intent rather than holding sprint.

There are no rat swarms. The threat is concentrated into the Creature and the pursuit rules built around it.

Minoan sphere basics

The sphere reveals hidden marks, projects light and separates colored rays. Before rotating anything:

1. Scan the room for the receiving gem or symbol.
2. Stand on any required floor plate.
3. Reveal concealed markings with the sphere.
4. Rotate or redirect light only after you understand the destination.

That order avoids solving half a mechanism and then losing track of what the room was asking. For specific sequences, use the puzzle index.

Difficulty and accessibility

There are no difficulty trophies, so choose the experience you want. Asobo’s accessibility blog lists five difficulty levels, from a Story mode that parries and dodges for you to a top tier with enemies at full aggression, plus an Invincible toggle on top of whichever you pick.

The options that matter for the colour reads above live in one Accessibility tab. High Contrast mode outlines anything you can interact with. Colorblind presets for protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia—or fully custom colours—recolour the sphere’s lights, the combat UI, the health bar and puzzle markings, with a live preview while you adjust. Sprint, walk and the sphere can each be set to hold or toggle, quick interactions and the grappling hook can be automated, blood can be switched off, and there are no quick-time events. If red and yellow flashes look alike to you, set the colours before the first large fight.

Seven beginner tips

1. Search side rooms before crossing a one-way ledge.
2. Keep one escape lane open in group fights.
3. Pull archers down early; ranged pressure ruins parry timing.
4. Spend Focus on crowds, not cleanup.
5. Reduce texture quality first when VRAM is the limit.
6. Do not sprint through every Creature sequence.
7. If you want the Platinum, collect Resonance Points during the first run.

Continue to the full walkthrough when a chapter—not a mechanic—is the thing blocking you.