Stamina is the resource the whole fight runs on. Empty it and you become Fatigued, which makes your attacks slower and less effective at exactly the moment you need them. What is easy to miss is how much of the defence is available at no cost, provided you are willing to aim it.
Blocking a direction is free. Blocking everything is not
Hold Block on its own and you Omniblock, which stops damage from any direction and charges you stamina for the privilege. Hold Block and pick a direction with the movement stick and you block directionally, which consumes no stamina at all when it lands.
That single line reshapes how you should hold the button. Omniblock is a panic tool for when you cannot read the attack. Directional blocking is the default, and it is free.
A perfect block pays you back
Choose the block direction just before the hit arrives and you get a perfect block, which restores some stamina and leaves the enemy open. So the best defensive outcome does not merely cost nothing, it refunds you.
Gear leans on this. Several stat lines exist only for it: stamina gain from a perfect block, activation charge restoration from a perfect block, and a wider perfect block window. A defensive build is built on that one interaction.
A perfect dodge is free even when you aim it wrong
Dodge sideways or backwards to get out of the way. Dodge towards the enemy and you get hit anyway. The useful trick is the perfect dodge: dodge into the direction of an incoming left or right attack at the last moment and Coen ducks it, which costs no stamina and opens a counter.
The generous part is the failure case. If your timing was right and your direction was wrong, the dodge still costs nothing. So attempting a perfect dodge is close to free, and attempting it often is how you learn the windows.
The red skull means dodge, and only dodge
Some attacks cannot be blocked or parried at all. The game flags them: a red skull icon appears just before the attack, and the enemy target indicator changes with it. There is no defensive answer except a dodge, so a player who blocks by reflex takes every one of them.
Enemies learn your favourite direction
You can attack in four directions, and enemies have a chance to block what you throw. That chance rises the more you strike from the same direction. Repeating a winning angle is how a fight stalls.
Pressing Attack without choosing gives you an Omniattack, which randomises the direction for you. That is worse than choosing well and better than choosing the same thing eight times.
In a fight, only quickslots exist
You cannot open the inventory mid-combat and drink something. A consumable has to be in a quickslot before the fight starts, blood vials included.
Crafted consumables are the ones worth slotting. Food has its effects reduced in combat and crafted items do not, so a crafted tonic is worth more in a fight than the meal that reads better on paper.