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Sifu Beginner Guide: Parrying, Avoiding Attacks, and Managing Age

A practical Sifu starter guide to parrying, avoiding attacks, reading bosses, and understanding how death and age affect a run.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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In Sifu, learn both Parry and Avoid rather than relying on one defense. Use parries to disrupt an opponent and create a counter opportunity; avoid attacks by ducking or jumping clear. Against bosses, watch a full attack pattern before striking during its recovery. Death raises your age by an escalating amount, but it does not make your character weaker—and replaying a completed chapter can help you finish it younger.

Parry or Avoid: choose for the attack in front of you

Sloclap describes Parry and Avoid as essential defensive moves to train early. They solve different problems, and neither is the right answer to every attack. Your goal is to recognize what is coming and choose a response you can time reliably.

Defense What it does Use it when
Parry A timed deflection. A successful parry can disrupt an opponent’s balance or Structure and create an opening to counter or throw them. You can read the incoming strike’s timing and want to interrupt the opponent or build a counter opportunity.
Avoid Moves your character clear of an attack, by ducking under or jumping over it depending on the strike. The attack’s path is clear to you and evading it is the safer response.

Parry is not the same as holding block: it depends on timing. Avoid is not one universal direction or animation; the suitable movement depends on the attack. Button prompts vary by platform and control settings, so use the in-game controls for your setup rather than assuming a particular mapping. Sloclap’s combat overview explains the relationship between defensive timing and Structure, the system that represents an opponent’s ability to maintain their stance and keep attacking or defending.

How to learn boss patterns without rushing

A boss encounter is a chance to read the sequence, not a race to land the first hit. Sloclap’s beginner tips recommend defending while you learn an opponent’s moves and waiting for an opening at the end of a pattern before counterattacking.

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#1 Best Overall
Sifu (PS5)
  • On the path of vengeance: The hunt for enemies will take you through hidden corners of the city, from gang-ridden suburbs to cold hallways of corporate towers; You’ve got one day, and countless enemies; For every mistake, time will be the price to pay
  • Adaptation is the way: Careful positioning and clever use of the environment are key to survival; Use everything at your disposal: throwable objects, makeshift weapons, windows, ledges... The odds are stacked against you, and you’ll be offered no mercy
  • Training never ends: Kung Fu is mastery through practice, a path for both the body and the mind; Learn from your errors, unlock unique skills, and find the strength within yourself to master the devastating techniques of Pak-Mei Kung-Fu
  • All the fights have been choregraphed by a real Kung Fu master
  • A unique graphic style and a game filled with epic levels and unforgettable backgrounds
  1. Observe. Give the boss room to show an attack sequence. Notice which attacks can be parried and which are easier to avoid.
  2. Defend first. Use a parry when you are confident in the timing; avoid when moving clear of the strike is the more dependable response.
  3. Wait for recovery. Do not treat every defended strike as permission to attack. Look for the end of the sequence or a clear recovery.
  4. Punish the opening. Counter when the boss is vulnerable, then return to observing rather than assuming the same opening will stay available.

Early attempts can be useful even if you do not reach the next chapter: recognizing an attack pattern gives you information to apply on a replay. For controlled practice, the official Sifu news page describes an advanced training mode for practicing against enemy types. Training and difficulty features have also appeared in official update announcements; their exact interface and availability can depend on the game version and settings installed, so check the in-game menus.

How death raises your age

Your character begins at age 20. According to Sloclap’s explanation of the death and aging system, the first death adds one year, the second adds two, and the third adds three. The escalating amount is driven by the death counter, not by a fixed one-year penalty for every death.

Rank #2
Sifu: Vengeance Edition (PS5)
  • Sifu: Vengeance Edition Includes - Steelbook, 3 Lithographs, The Art of Sifu - 48-page artbook and Digital Soundtrack
  • On the path of vengeance: The hunt for enemies will take you through hidden corners of the city, from gang-ridden suburbs to cold hallways of corporate towers; You've got one day, and countless enemies; For every mistake, time will be the price to pay
  • Adaptation is the way: Careful positioning and clever use of the environment are key to survival; Use everything at your disposal: throwable objects, makeshift weapons, windows, ledges... The odds are stacked against you, and you'll be offered no mercy
  • Training never ends: Kung Fu is mastery through practice, a path for both the body and the mind; Learn from your errors, unlock unique skills, and find the strength within yourself to master the devastating techniques of Pak-Mei Kung-Fu
  • All the fights have been choregraphed by a real Kung Fu master; A unique graphic style and a game filled with epic levels and unforgettable backgrounds

Shrines and defeating certain enemies, including chapter bosses, can lower or reset the death counter. Finishing a chapter resets that counter, but your character keeps the age they reached. There is no way to become younger during a run.

Growing older does not reduce your abilities. Sloclap says that the character can complete the game at any age; the practical risk is that repeated deaths eventually push age beyond the pendant’s ability to revive you, causing a game over. Treat age as a limited margin for further mistakes, not as a damage or skill penalty.

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Rank #3
Gurei - PlayStation 5
  • You are free to pick your fights against the Kami in any order. The game features a dynamic difficulty system where each enemy strength is defined by the player’s chosen path. This means that the very same Kami fought at the very beginning could also be the final boss in a different route. Hope to never leave the one you struggle most to fight last!
  • Besides sword attacks, dodges, head stomps and other basic abilities, Rei will learn a completely new skill for each defeated Kami. Those will provide further depth to your combat arsenal, be it a stronger dash, a weapon that can execute enemies, the ability to heal and many more!
  • Player choice is the ultimate power. Taking into account the vastly distinct enemies’ patterns and unique skills granted upon each victory, you will be able to decide how to approach every challenge. It won’t be easy either way, but you can always go back and try something different.
  • Gurei is a game about fighting strong enemies, but that’s not all. The Kami inhabit a surreal castle located between the human and spirit worlds. After each victory, Rei comes closer to the realm of spirits, starting to encounter peculiar characters from Japanese mythology. These creatures will add novelty and strangeness to your journey, providing commentary, unique animations, side objectives and obscure secrets.
  • You will get to know the different Kami quite well. When Rei defeats them, she absorbs their power and their personality. The defeated Kami will be carried around wherever Rei goes, and they’ll surely have stuff to talk about. Sometimes their remarks will be useful information that builds the player’s understanding of the lore and the game mechanics, but sometimes they will be... not so helpful, to put it briefly. Good luck!
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What persists, and when replaying helps

Completing a chapter creates a save point at the age you reached. From there, you can continue or replay an earlier hideout to try for a better finishing age. Sloclap’s guidance also encourages continuing through imperfect runs: progress can reveal skills and secret paths that make later attempts more informed.

  • At a game over: unlocked skills and upgrades from the run are lost.
  • Permanent progress: permanently unlocked skills and detective-board information persist, according to Sloclap’s explanation.
  • At chapter completion: the save point records your current age, while the death counter resets.

Keep permanent unlocks distinct from progress in the current run. A rough first clear can still leave you with persistent discoveries, while replaying a chapter is the route to improving the age recorded at its finish.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1
Sifu (PS5)
Sifu (PS5)
All the fights have been choregraphed by a real Kung Fu master; A unique graphic style and a game filled with epic levels and unforgettable backgrounds
$32.99
Bestseller No. 2
Bestseller No. 3
Bestseller No. 4
Rank #4
Maneater [PS5] (PS5)
  • Fully Evolved For PlayStation5 - The next evolution of Maneater is here with full utilization of the PlayStation5 including ray-tracing, native 4K HDR support at 60 FPS, immersive feedback via the DualSense controller's haptic motors, and more! Full upgrade available to all current-gen owners to ensure that when your console evolves, Maneater will too.
  • Unique Story - Play through a full narrative, story-based campaign narrated by Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, Rick and Morty) and set against the backdrop of a reality TV show.
  • Diverse, Compelling Combat - Battle fierce wildlife including other apex predators or fight against various types of human hunters ranging from town drunks all the way up to the Coast Guard.
  • Evolve Into a Legend - Feed on humans and wildlife to grow your shark, and find shark loot to evolve your shark down multiple possible paths.
  • Explore the Gulf - 7 large regions including bayous of the gulf coast, resort beaches, industrial docks, the open ocean and more. Experience a living world with a full day/night cycle.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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