Quick answer: Parry to drain the enemy’s Sha-Chi, then finish with Sha-Chi Combos using a weapon with a high Guard Break number.
How guard breaking works
Each weapon card displays Damage and Guard Break. Damage measures the health your attacks remove, while Guard Break shows how much they weaken an enemy’s defense.
Guarding isn’t free for anyone. The game spells it out for the player: “Guard Stance continuously drains Sha-Chi” and “Blocking attacks drains additional Sha-Chi”. Once the Sha-Chi bar is empty, the guard breaks. The same rule works in your favor against enemies, and the Guard Stance system covers how it applies on your side.
The opening duel teaches this directly. With the boss bar reading ZUO SHANG, THE ORDER’S SHADOW SOVEREIGN, the game tells you “Give it all you’ve got! Use combos to break Zuo Shang’s guard!” alongside two prompts: “Press [Left Mouse] repeatedly to perform Standard Attacks” and “Press [F] repeatedly to perform Sha-Chi Attacks”.
Parry to drain their Sha-Chi
Stance is on Right Mouse by default, and timing it turns a block into a parry. The tutorial puts it simply: “Press Stance just before an enemy attack lands to perform a Parry!”
That’s the quickest guard-breaking tool in the game, because of what a parry costs each side:
- “Parry does not consume Sha-Chi. Instead, it severely depletes the attacker’s Sha-Chi.”
- “Parrying generates Sha-Chi Essence”, which fuels Power Surge.
Only some attacks can be parried. Blue-flash attacks are the ones to meet with Stance. Red-flash attacks can’t be blocked, so dodge those with Shift instead. A loading tip sums it up: “Parry blue and dodge red. Keep this in mind and you’ll go far.”
Parry every Blue-flash attack you can, then go on the offensive while the enemy’s Sha-Chi is low.
Finish with Sha-Chi Combos
Standard Combos on Left Mouse aren’t the whole toolkit. The Sanguine Twin card lists Damage 200 and Guard Break 100, and its Sha-Chi Combo (F F F F) reads: “Can be unleashed after any swing during a Standard Combo. With enough Sha-Chi, it becomes an enhanced attack with increased damage and Guard Break.”
The catch is that “Sha-Chi Combos consume Sha-Chi” from your own bar. The fix is in the weapon swap: “SWITCH WEAPONS: Switching weapons fully replenishes Sha-Chi”. Sha-Chi Combos and weapon switching work together like this:
Pick and upgrade a high Guard Break weapon
Before committing materials, review the Guard Break figures shown on the weapon cards. The cards list these values:
| Weapon | Guard Break | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Sanguine | 100 | — |
 Sanguine Twin | 100 | Damage 200 |
 Scarlet Wraithblade | 117 | Two-Handed, Damage 240 |
The Scarlet Wraithblade carries the highest Guard Break of the three. The full weapons list is the place to compare others.
Upgrading raises Guard Break along with Damage. At a bell, choose the Upgrade Equipment row to upgrade weapons. Here’s how the Sanguine Twin scales:
| Sanguine Twin level | Damage | Guard Break |
|---|---|---|
| Lv1 | 200 | 100 |
| Lv2 | 220 | 110 |
| Lv3 | 240 | 120 |
Going from Lv1 to Lv2 costs Twinned Metal 2 + Solvent 1 + 990 Remnant Dust.
Shield enemies: Get behind them with Ghoststep
Enemies with shields block attacks from the front, so hammering away head-on doesn’t get far. Instead, wait for one of their Blue-flash attacks and parry it. That triggers Ghoststep, which puts you behind them, and from there you can attack freely. The ability text confirms it: “Parry Blue-flash Attacks to trigger Ghoststep and move behind enemies.” The first shield enemy appears at the Red Thread Barrier.
After the guard breaks: Phantom Edge follow-ups
A broken guard opens the door to Phantom Edges once you own Flowing Chi, a Train Abilities node that costs 10,000 Remnant Dust. It reads: “When a regular enemy uses a ranged Red-flash Attack, or has less than 50% HP while Guard-Broken, certain Phantom Edges can be used at the right moment to counter or perform a follow-up attack without consuming Remnant Spark”.
