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You can store two "left hand", and two "right hand" equipments, and alternate them any time using the left/right d-pad buttons. You can also store a list of spells in your "up" d-pad to toggle if you cast those (it will automatically group multiples of the same spell, they're basically "ammo counts;" the game has no MP equivalent). Disposable items go in your "down" d-pad list (up to 5), and square(PS3)/X(360) hotkeys those.
Each weapon type has a 2 sets of light and heavy attacks (one- and two-handed), and each type of that weapon combines a set of those together. So two staff/spear weapons can share the same one-hand-light attack, but use different heavy attacks, and so forth. They all have windup/cooldown about on par with Castlevania, so you can't just flail widely without leaving your butt way open, and draining your stamina bar. Light attacks usually have a short 3-4 hit combo sequence with repeated input, but they're more rhythmic than rapid. They all drain a green "stamina meter," which replenishes during downtime, making combat sporadic and tactical in nature.
There are 3 kinds of spells in the game (Sorcery, Pyromancy, and Miracles), and each has a weapon set that summons them. Yes, they're basically weapons, with the ammo/spell determined by what you have in your "attunement" slots. You begin with one usually (2 for spell builds), and can actually level that up as a statistic. There are also standard weapons that can inflict magical-class damage, as well.
Shields are passive/positive, and it's pretty often you'll see a lot of players with them raised. You recover stamina quickly with them lowered, and slowly with them raised/blocking (hold L1). You can also try and predict (or quickly react) to attacks with a parry (L2), which has a little windup (about half that of a weapon), followed by a "parry window," and a cooldown about equal to a weapon's, maybe a little quicker. You can use these defensive manuevers while two-handing weapons, too, but not while dual-wielding. Many of the better shields include passive effects, like faster-regenerating stamina, an increased parry window, or extra resistance to status ailments like poison.
Critical hits are NOT random, ever. There are three ways to score Critical hits (usually for 3.5-4x base damage) - a direct light attack from a narrow back angle (about 20 degrees wide, you CANNOT BE BLOCKING!), an (unblockable?) "plunging attack" during a drop taller than your character, or successfully parrying and riposting an enemy's attack. These are very key in combat, and can often make-or-break even highly uneven matches, unless they're extreme cases.
You can choose to lock on to an enemy (R3) or free-form, as weapons have geometric range, ala Soul Calibur. For facing one adversary, or a small/compact group, it's easy enough to lock on, and then toggle by moving the right stick (think Spider-Man games); but with spread enemies, sometimes you're better off not being locked on (one enemy baits, the second slips up behind you).
Status ailments are meters that you can grow with your "resistance" statistic and certain equipment/garments. They're a meter that fills up with an effect before it takes effect, but then the effect lasts until it drains. 'Bleed' and 'Curse' drain instantly - curse instakills you and returns you in Cursed Form with half your Max HP; Bleed does an instant percentage of your Max HP in damage (usually about 80%!!). Poison/Toxic drains out of your meter slowly (unless it's still being added to) while burning up your HP. Some items and spells instantly empty these meters, without affecting you.
You can use evasive maneuvers with the O(PS3)/B(360) buttons. Tap to backstep, tap with the stick pressed to evade roll (there's hit detection issues there, but it's not invulnerable), or you can hold it down to run/dash. Each of these will use a bit of stamina. Running will drain it smoothly, and you do have a skid-stop to be aware of. If there's running involved, it's usually running FROM combat (lock-off, but rare because of backstab potential), to a strategic position, or in pursuit of someone fleeing - but again, that's rare and usually just people ducking around phantoms rather than facing them. It's also very easy to fall off of unfenced edges if you're not careful.
Finally, there's the jump-stab/kick. It's a little tricky to pull off, as it requires a simultaneous "press" of your movestick and L1(kick)/L2(leapstab). The kick acts as an instant guard breaker, for disarming turtles for quick followups, and pushing enemies off of ledges nearby. The leapstab is good for quickly closing some distance with an attack, but it's rarely used because it's highly telegraphed, and completely blockable/parryable. It doesn't go too terribly far, so it's not like it's all out-of-control-flying-off-the-arena. But the control scheme of these two does create your occasaional "input error" (player, not software) that can be capitalized on, or just lead to some interesting situations.
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