Parry

Parrying is a game mechanic in Demon's Souls.

General information
Parrying is the act of deflecting an incoming attack by sleight of hand in order to reduce or negate damage with the possibility of staggering and stunning the attacker, leaving them vulnerable to a counter-attack. To perform a parry, press the L2 button while a compatible weapon or shield is equipped in the left hand. These include: The Parrying Dagger and Buckler have a longer parry window than any other weapon or shield.
 * 1) The player character's empty left hand
 * 2) A curved sword
 * 3) A standard shield
 * 4) A dagger
 * 5) A rapier

Almost any attack in the game can be parried, with the exception of the Acid, Poison, and Death Cloud spells, and the Dragon God's fire breath. There are, in general, four types: a missed parry, an unsuccessful parry, a semi-successful parry, and a perfect parry.

A missed parry occurs when the player's parry "window" (the frames of the parry animation which actually serve to deflect an incoming attack) are completely mistimed and do not make contact with the incoming attack. The player is staggered and takes damage from the attack as though he/she had been standing still.

An unsuccessful parry occurs when the parry window makes contact with the incoming attack, but is insufficient to stagger the attacker or negate damage. This occurs either when the player attempts to parry an unparryable attack (a spell, miracle, projectile, area-of-effect attack, or an attack from a boss or an enemy significantly larger than the player), or when the attack makes contact within the parry window but with incorrect timing. Stagger is eliminated and damage is reduced noticeably, but the player loses stamina equal to the stamina cost to parry plus the stamina cost to block the attack normally.

A semi-successful parry is like an unsuccessful parry, but the timing is close enough that the attacker is still staggered and rendered vulnerable to a riposte. These only occur when parrying a parryable attack.

A perfect parry occurs when the parry window is timed perfectly with the frames of an attack, just before the player is hit and takes damage. A perfect parry completely negates stagger and damage, does not damage the durability of the shield or weapon used to parry, and renders the attacker vulnerable to a riposte. A perfect parry is denoted by a low whooshing sound immediately after.

Enemies that can be parried

 * All NPCs
 * Other players
 * Dreglings
 * Soldiers
 * Knights
 * Fat Officials
 * Assassins
 * Scale Miners
 * Prisoners
 * The Old Monk
 * Silver Skeletons
 * Gold Skeletons
 * Black Skeletons
 * Depraved Ones (except Giants and Shamans)

Enemies that can parry

 * Garl Vinland
 * Mephistopheles