Parry blocks melee attacks: light and heavy melee from any hero, troopers and Guardians. Abilities can't be parried, with one exception, Viscous's Puddle Punch. Land a parry and the hit does nothing to you, while the attacker is stunned for 2.75 seconds and takes 25% more damage while stunned.
What you can parry
- Hero melee, both the quick light attack and the charged heavy one. Heavy melee is the easier one to react to, because of its wind-up.
- Troopers. It blocks the hit and stuns them.
- Guardians. A parried Guardian stops meleeing for a short while.
- Viscous's Puddle Punch. Its tooltip says so: "Enemies can Parry this attack."
What you can't parry
- Abilities, apart from Puddle Punch. That includes ones that look like punches: Bebop's Exploding Uppercut can't be parried.
- Walkers.
- Anything while you're stunned. Silence doesn't stop you parrying, though.
- Anything while you carry the Soul Urn. The parry key throws the Urn instead.
The stun and the cooldown
The parry stun lasts 2.75 seconds, and debuff resist doesn't shorten it. A parry that catches nothing goes on a 4.5 second cooldown, so a wrong guess leaves you open. Enemies can see your parry cooldown above your head, and you can see theirs.
Unstoppable protects the attacker: an Unstoppable hero isn't stunned when you parry them.
Items that change parry
- Counterspell: your next parry also blocks the damage and effects of enemy abilities and items. On a successful block you heal and gain move speed and spirit power.
- Rebuttal: cuts the parry cooldown to 2.75 seconds. A parry against a hero heals you for the damage you blocked, sends that damage back to the attacker and gives you bonus damage for a few seconds.
For how melee damage works, see melee in Deadlock. For what Counterspell and Unstoppable beat, see Unstoppable, Curse, Dispel and Counterspell.
Quick answers
Can you parry abilities in Deadlock?
Only one: Viscous's Puddle Punch. Every other ability needs Counterspell, whose next parry blocks abilities and items too.
How long is the parry stun in Deadlock?
2.75 seconds, and debuff resist doesn't shorten it. The stunned hero also takes 25% more damage.
What is the parry cooldown?
A missed parry has a 4.5 second cooldown. Rebuttal cuts it to 2.75 seconds.
Can you parry Walkers?
No. You can parry troopers and Guardians, but not Walkers.
Can you parry while silenced?
Yes. Silence blocks your abilities, but parry still works. Being stunned stops it.