How Does Stun Work in Avowed?

There’s a heavy emphasis on magic in Avowed, but that doesn’t mean that players who enjoy pure, visceral melee combat have nothing to look forward to. Instead of just hacking and poking away at an enemy until their health bar disappears, players can also stun targets, opening up new avenues for different builds and playstyles.

The stun mechanic in Avowed isn’t that different from other RPG games. It’s a completely optional way of fighting, but if you want to take on the game’s hardest difficulty, you’ll want to know how to take full advantage of the stun mechanic. Here’s what you need to know about it.

All Avowed Classes Warrior Ranger Wizard Class Trees Multiclass

Avowed: All Classes In Avowed

There are three classes in Avowed, which take the form of three class ability trees that grant Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard skills.

How Stun Works in Avowed

Every enemy in the game has a meter below their health bars that represents their current stun accumulation. If this bar is filled completely, the target is Stunned for a few seconds, rendering them immobile and vulnerable to a powerful attack.

Hitting enemies with physical attacks builds up their stun meter to varying degrees. As a rule of thumb, the slower the weapon or the attack is, the more stun is built up on impact. Maces, rifles, and two-handed hammers deal the most amount of Stun damage, while swords, pistols, and daggers deal the least. Axes are firmly in the middle, with spears and bows trodding just slightly behind. There are quite a few early game items in Avowed that could help with stun-oriented builds.

Upgrading weapons will increase all of their stats, including Stun damage, so always try to upgrade your gear by salvaging unwanted items and collecting as many materials as you can. You’ll need high-quality equipment in order to fight against higher-level enemies.

Stunning Abilities

There are also a number of abilities that can cause high levels of stun. Charge, Barbaric Shout, and Shield Bash from the Fighter tree are arguably the best ones for stunning targets, and if you’re playing as a Ranger or Wizard, you can use skills like Staggering Shot and Blast.

The Ranger’s line of skills includes Parry, which lets players deal Stun damage by perfectly blocking incoming attacks.

Enemies can also be stunned by your companions in Avowed. Kai is pretty much the best when it comes to crowd control — his Fire and Ire and Leap of Daring abilities are particularly good at stunning targtes, and both skills taunt enemies too.

Unique Weapons

Some unique weapons are designed for playstyles that make heavy use of the stun mechanic. The Horsecutter greatsword (found in a cove along the southern coast of the Emerald Stair) deals increased Stun damage with the final hit of its combo. Many melee weapons can also be enchanted to deal more Stun damage with a parry.