Every attack is a commitment
In Valor Mortis, you cannot interrupt an attack animation with a parry. Once you start a swing, you are committed to it, so you need to decide whether to defend before attacking. This is a key rule for understanding the rhythm of combat.
Blocking, however, gives you a chance to recover some of what you lose: a counterattack immediately after a block restores the health lost while blocking. A perfect dodge has a different effect, briefly slowing time. These rules put the emphasis on timing, as each move has its own specific consequence.
How combat replenishes resources
Accuracy also helps replenish your reserves. Hitting weak points restores nephtoglobin, or nephto. That gives you another reason to pay attention to where your attacks land, beyond simply hitting your opponent.
Marksman’s Bane connects defence with ammunition: it lets you parry bullets, and each successful bullet parry gives you one round for the Pistol. A defensive move directly replenishes what you can use to fight back.
Butcher’s Carnage brings a more pronounced trade-off. Melee attacks restore health, but you can no longer heal with Ferrofluid Flasks. From a player’s perspective, that condition matters more than the appealing effect: the choice changes how you recover health. For us, that balance between what you gain and what you give up is the most interesting part of choosing abilities.
Opportunities for extra damage
Two other options focus on creating openings for attacks. Fire Transmutation sets enemies alight, making burning opponents vulnerable to finishers. Fire therefore has a clear role in setting up your next move.
Volatile End ties extra damage to an accurate shot: shooting an enemy’s weak point triggers a damaging explosion. Weak points thus connect two practical goals: recovering nephto and triggering an explosion with this ability. When choosing abilities, it helps to think about which moves you want to combine during combat.
Returning opens new paths
Exploration continues even in areas you have already visited. Abilities unlocked later give you access to new sections of those areas, so an earlier visit does not mean you have seen every available route. The interconnected levels also contain optional mini-bosses, giving you another reason to pay attention to spaces away from the main path.
This soulslike adventure follows William, a young Englishman who joins Napoleon’s cause. Valor Mortis is available for XBOX Series X|S and XBOX on PC, with support for XBOX Play Anywhere. The game is also included in Game Pass; access through that service requires a subscription.
Source: [Xbox Wire](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/10/13/valor-mortis-tips-and-tricks-to-survive-the-crimson-plague).