Counter Attack

Countering is a combat mechanic in Dark Souls.

General Information
Countering can be achieved not only by attacking at the same time as an enemy, and hitting them first, but also by another means. The second way to counter attack, is to raise your shield and have the enemy's weapon rebound off of your shield. While the enemy's attack hs been deflected and they are stunned momentarily, immediately attack after the rebound for an even stronger weak attack than normal.

The second 'Counter Attack' can prove useful against an enemy whose attack can kill the player in a few hits but their shield can withstand several blows, Counter Attacks can only be achieved with a shield capable of stunning an enemy after thier weapon rebounds off of it. As such, two handed blocking can not utilise the second 'Counter Attack'. The drawbacks to the second 'Counter Attack' is weapons that can damage through shields, such as Lightning and Shotels, and heavier weapons that don't rebound off of shields.

The first Counter Attack is useful against enemies with a very strong weapon, but very poor poise. An example is a normal Hollow wielding the Torch. The Torch variety deal large damage at lower levels but the Hollows have no poise what so ever. Katana are one of the faster weapons in the game and Countering with a katana would more then likely prevent the enemy from attacking. The only drawback is that when encountering stronger enemies that do not stagger, and NG+, the usefulness of Countering begins to dwindle.