Combat Guide

As of September 5, 2026: combat changes with time of day, and the core system is the same whether you're fighting as human or vampire — only the toolkit changes.

Attacking and Blocking

Omniattack auto-selects Coen's attack direction, so you can focus purely on timing. Directional Attack lets you manually choose top/bottom/left/right — watching an enemy's guard and striking an open direction makes attacks harder to block.

Omniblock auto-selects the correct block direction but costs Stamina. Directional Block requires manually matching the incoming attack's direction, and costs no Stamina if you get it right — on Story, Fair, and Challenging difficulties an on-screen indicator shows you which direction is coming (Duelist removes it). Blocking the right direction right before impact lands a Perfect Block, which opens the enemy up to a counterattack.

Attacks marked with a red skull icon can't be blocked at all — dodge those instead. (This matches the general attack-telegraph system already covered on the Boss List page.)

Stamina and Activation Charges

Attacking, sprinting, and Omniblock all cost Stamina, which regenerates when unused; hitting zero makes Coen "Fatigued" — slower and weaker attacks. Activation Charges power Active Abilities and are restored by landing attacks and blocking, with well-timed defensive plays restoring them more efficiently.

Ability Wheel and Quickslots

Beyond basic attacking and blocking, combat also has a dedicated system for using Active Abilities on the fly. Holding Focus (without a weapon drawn) opens Coen's Ability Wheel, letting you select an ability mid-fight; abilities can also be pre-assigned to Quickslots for faster access without opening the wheel at all. Controller players additionally have the option of an Alternative control scheme, which moves several core combat actions from the shoulder buttons to the face buttons — Dodge, Focus, Ability Wheel navigation, and Use Ability work the same either way. Weapon swapping and target-locking are also standard combat actions alongside attacking and blocking, letting you switch loadout or focus a specific enemy mid-fight.

Day vs. Night Combat

By day, Coen fights in Human Form with equipped weapons (swords are his specialty, but axes and other melee types work too, each with different speed/style), plus Swordmastery and Witchcraft — some Witchcraft abilities cost Health to cast. By night, he shifts to Vampire Form: claws and Vampirism abilities open up (Death From Above for surprise attacks, Piercing Shriek to stun, Voracious Bite to damage-and-heal at the cost of raising Corruption), while his equipped weapons and Swordmastery remain usable too, so it's possible to switch between claws and a blade mid-fight.