This guide explains how to perform a Counter and a Perfect Dodge.
It covers the timing required to execute them and the benefits gained when performed successfully,
so use this guide to assist you throughout your playthrough.
What Is a Counter?
・Perform a Heavy Attack during the Counter sign
A Guaranteed Knockdown Counter Triggered During Specific Attacks
As shown in the GIF above, some enemy attacks produce a distorted reversal-like effect during their motion.
Pressing the Heavy Attack button at this moment turns the tide and lets you deal damage instead—this is the Counter. It does a fairly good amount of damage, and as a bonus, you are invincible during the Counter animation.
Regular enemies are guaranteed to be stunned, allowing you to follow up with additional hits. Bosses, however, may not always be stunned depending on their accumulated damage, but at the very least, their motion will be interrupted.
Since stunned enemies take increased damage, most regular foes can be defeated—or have around 80% of their Health taken out—with a single combo starting from a Counter. Against bosses, it can account for roughly 70% of your total damage output (based on my experience), making it extremely important.
Either way, the effect is your cue to strike—make sure to aim for Counters whenever you see it.
Counterable Attacks Vary by Enemy
Each enemy has different attack patterns.
Some enemies have multiple attacks that can be Countered, while others may only have one. It can be a bit of a hassle, but if you have room to breathe when encountering a new enemy, try observing whether they have a Counter window.
If you pay close attention, you'll notice that even the same attack may or may not display the effect at times. It's absurd, really.
Also, if you obtain the top-tier Omamori called “Rabbit” from your second playthrough onward, you’ll be able to perform a Counter after a successful Perfect Dodge. In other words, every dodgeable enemy attack becomes a Counter opportunity. What even is this Omamori…? (I’m honestly a little scared.)
You Can Extend the Effect Duration by Focusing
Focusing makes it easier to land Counters. However, there are different ways to use it:
・Focusing right before predicting an attack → Conserves Sanity
・Countering while the Focus Gauge is at MAX → Deals high damage
Your Spirit recovers over time, but staying focused constantly may cause your gauge to run out and cancel Focus. It's important to manage your state properly.
What Is a Perfect Dodge?
・Dodge right before the enemy’s attack connects
A brief window of invincibility gained by dodging at the very last moment
Yes, it's invincibility. As the in-game navigation mentions, successfully performing it immediately restores all of your Stamina.
This is just my interpretation, but it seems that Hinako’s dodge has a very short invincibility window, and when an enemy’s attack overlaps with that invincible frame, the slow-motion effect you saw in the GIF above triggers.
From my experience, the invincibility window is not as long as in modern action games. It feels like it’s around 0.25 seconds—barely noticeable.
It's pretty strict timing, yet the very first combat encounter already teaches you Perfect Dodge through a tutorial. I find that a bit amusing.
To consistently pull it off, memorizing the enemy’s attack flow and rhythm helps increase your success rate. Once you get used to it, you can even react to attacks coming from off-screen.
Of course, you don’t need to Perfect Dodge every attack in the game. However, a few enemies have moves that cannot be avoided unless you do so.
For those encounters, it’s worth developing the habit—or rather, the intuition—for timing your dodges properly.
Omamori That Make Perfect Dodge Easier
【Suzuran】Location: Iwashimizu
Makes it easier to trigger a Perfect Dodge.
Guide → Iwashimizu Walkthrough
While equipping Suzuran doesn’t grant an overwhelming boost, it noticeably increases the stability of your Perfect Dodge timing.
Iwashimizu appears just before the endgame, so you won’t get it early on during your first run. Still, the game truly opens up after clearing it once, so consider it something to look forward to.
From the second playthrough onward, it synergizes with the “Rabbit,” an Omamori that’s borderline top-tier, making it a must-pick.
Related Guides
Here are my other SILENT HILL f guides. Feel free to check out anything that catches your eye.
