How to Parry in Predator: Hunting Grounds

One of the most oppressive parts of playing Predator: Hunting Grounds is going up against a Predator who’s spamming melee attacks against a group of Fireteam players, but the human players do have one counter for that tactic once they learn how to parry the Predator. Doing so will not only block the Predator’s attack but will also create an opening for the player to either back up or keep fighting. It also buys time for the rest of the Fireteam to do whatever they’re doing whether that’s completing the objective or helping you, so parrying is one of those things that Fireteam players need to learn as soon as possible.

There’s no tutorial for playing as the Fireteam, so players are largely left on their own to figure out what to do when the Predator swoops down from the trees with their blades swinging. It’s even worse if the Predator has the Combistick, the weapon that dominated during the beta but is now a high-level unlock. Fortunately, some time spent in the beta and in the game post-launch has given us a pretty good idea of the timing and technique required to parry the predator.

Once the predator comes down and starts swinging, the first instinct you’ll have will be to run away from him. He’s much more mobile than the Fireteam members though, so if he’s already on you, your best bet is to turn around and face him.

When he melees, you may see a brief button prompt flash up near the bottom-center of your screen. It’s asking you to press your own melee button to parry the Predator. If you can time your melee counter correctly, you’ll parry his attack.

To get the timing right, you essentially have to anticipate the Predator’s attack. Right as you see the windup for the melee, counter it with your own melee attack. It works even better if you use the weapon wheel to pull out your knife instead of a gun so that you can react quicker without mashing down the control stick on the PlayStation 4 and risking unnecessary movements.

By successfully parrying the Predator, you’ll negate the attack and briefly stun it. This will buy you time to either put some space between you and the Predator or, if you’re quick enough, pull out a weapon while backing up to shoot it a few times, then switch back to your knife in case the player continues their attack. The Predator will probably figure out after one or two attempts that its plan isn’t going well, but by that time, you and your team will hopefully have gotten in some significant damage or made progress on an objective.

We’ll have more tips and tricks for playing as the Predator and the Fireteam soon. Predator: Hunting Grounds is now available for the PlayStation 4 and PC platforms.