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Why poise needed to be changed from how it worked in W3EE?
Because in W3EE poise was both RNG based and BINARY working stat. Simply put 50 poise would give you 50% chance to not flinch on getting hit, while below 110 Poise even trying to parry a enemy bigger than a drowner would immediately result in a huge parry stagger and huge damage through block. Counters would also let through extremely significant portion of damage if 110 poise requirement was not met, making 110 poise an absolutely must when even attempting to fight bigger monsters in engagements. With said system you would get punished regardless of how good you play if below 110 poise - constantly staggered on even attempting to defend, which often confirmed an unblocked hit afterwards, basically auto-losing the fight - unless you are able to out-sustain the unavoidable damage on every interaction, which made Swallow Potions and sometimes bad play crutches like WRD not only desired, but necessary AT ALL TIMED.
So how does the new system work?
Poise is a resource that regenerates rapidly (to full over 5 seconds) after not spending any poise on defensive actions like countering, perfect parrying, passive parrying or even dodging. Of course getting a direct unmitigated hit will result in unmitigated poise damage, while all defensive actions allow to mitigate most of the damage done directly to poise, as well as to vitality.
Getting poise broken results in a flinch on hit or stagger on parrying, but also replenishes poise to maximum instantly, ensuring that you can instantly be able to defend yourself and react to following hits. Getting poise broken is not a big deal. It's a part of the gameplay and as long as you nail those "counter windows" while parrying, you should be able to mitigate most of the damage and continue the engagement. In W3EE basically every big monster hit would "poise broke" you on parry (if under the magical poise threshold, which of course made the game too easy for a change) and would result in much higher damage through block.
All the information regarding your poise and defensive capabilities can be found in your new character sheet tab "POISE AND DEFENSE":
So how do I monitor my poise?
You don't. I mean you can, but you probably don't need to. The system is designed in such a way that it can be used to its maximum effectiveness without watching the HUD indicator for poise. You are supposed to fight enemies and "get a feel" on how long engagements you can withstand before having to disengage due to getting staggered on parries.
It's all actually very logical and will behave exactly how you would expect it to behave:
- If enemy is huge and menacing and easily tosses you around in short engagements, you might want to try dodging more than parrying and prefer short engagements
- If enemy can be Perfectly Parried with no poise breaking after running out of poise for counters, you are probably good in more extended engagements without having to dodge out of engagement.
It's trial and error: Just enjoy the ride because all in all you are expected to always use your parries within the "counter window" regardless of your poise - And even if you get poise broken on a perfect parry then it's all about how you react to that, learn and adapt.
However, to estimate your poise at any given time all you need to do is take a look at the Sword Icon at the right side of stamina bar:
The most important things to remember are:
- You can most likely counter attack any enemy at least once if you are over 70% of your Max Poise (Poise Sword is fully lit and red)
- Below that value, your counters are downgraded into perfect parries, which are a superior form of blocking damage opposed to passive parries. Perfect parries simply allow you to block more vitality and poise damage so even if you can't counter attacks, you should always try to press "parry" within the "counter window" - just like you would if you meant to counter.
- If your Adrenaline Sword icon is unlit or poorly lit, there is a good chance that next attack will break your poise and cause stagger. This of course will refresh the poise and allow you to re-start the battle engagement cycle, where you can counter and successfully parry the enemy.
- Received poise damage depends on enemy size, type, attack and your reaction to it or momentum generated at the moment of getting hit. Regardless of your poise investment, I would highly dis-advise trying to parry a Golem's fist or Bies charge. Once again: it is actually very logical. If an attack looks like it would probably fling you like a twig if you attempt to parry it, then it probably WILL fling you like a twig regardless of how strong your muscles are or how heavy armor you are wearing. Thank god for counters and dodges, right?
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