Crimson Capes is one of the most exciting indie action RPGs to land on Steam in 2026.
Developed by Poor Locke, this 2D souls-like drops you into the dark fantasy kingdom of Amvros as Milon the Tempest, a witch-hunter leading a guild of elite warriors hunting down rogue wizards.
The rotoscoped pixel art looks gorgeous, but don’t let the visuals fool you. Crimson Capes is tough.
Here are the essential beginner tips you need to survive and start hunting witches like a pro.
Master the Basics Before You Get Fancy
The controls in Crimson Capes are refreshingly straightforward. You’ve got light attacks, heavy attacks, dodge, parry, feints, and taunts at your disposal. If you’ve played any souls-like before, you’ll feel right at home.
But here’s the thing. This is not a button-mashing game.
Every action has recovery frames and animation commitment. Spam attacks recklessly and you’ll get punished hard.
The combat is inspired by real medieval greatsword (montante) fighting techniques.
There’s a rhythm and weight to everything you do. Start by getting comfortable with light attacks and dodging, then layer in heavy attacks and parries.
Build your muscle memory piece by piece instead of trying to use every tool at once.
Learn to Read Enemy Stamina and Break Their Stance
Here’s something that trips up a lot of new players. Enemies in Crimson Capes have stamina bars, and sometimes those bars are hidden.
Understanding how enemy stamina works is absolutely critical to your success.
The core combat loop works like this.
You pressure enemies with attacks that drain their stance and stamina.
Once their stamina is depleted, the next time you land a parry on them, they’ll become heavily staggered. That stagger window is your chance to land a devastating heavy attack for massive damage.
Each playable character has at least one Combat Discipline specifically focused on stamina damage. These moves might not deal huge health damage on their own, but they hit the enemy’s stamina bar incredibly hard. You’ll want to weave these into your attack patterns constantly.
For boss fights especially, this loop is everything.
Parry, follow up with a stamina-draining Discipline move, repeat until they stagger, then punish with your heaviest attack.
It takes patience, but it works.
Parrying Is Your Best Friend
If there’s one skill you absolutely need to master, it’s the parry. Crimson Capes is built around its parry system in a way that makes it almost mandatory for progression.
The timing is strict but fair. Read your enemy’s attack animations and hit the parry button right before their strike connects. Successful parries open enemies up for critical counterattacks and are the fastest way to break their stance.
Don’t play passively by just blocking or dodging everything. The game actively rewards aggression. You need to pressure enemies and lower their stance before you can really open them up for meaningful damage.
The rotoscoped pixel art does a fantastic job of telegraphing attacks.
Every frame communicates information about what’s coming next.
Learn to read those tells and your parry timing will improve dramatically.
Don’t Sleep on Combat Disciplines
When you first start, your moveset is limited to basic light and heavy attacks. But as you earn experience points, you can invest them into the skill tree to unlock powerful new moves.
The most important unlocks are the Combat Disciplines.
Think of these as combat stances. Each character has multiple Disciplines with both light and heavy variants.
Some focus on stamina damage (essential for the parry-stagger-punish loop), while others help with repositioning or burst damage.
Using a Discipline costs a portion of your charge meter, so you can’t spam them. But investing in Disciplines early will fundamentally change how combat feels and give you way more options.
Don’t ignore your skill tree and try to brute force everything with basic attacks.
Use Feints and Taunts to Your Advantage
One of the coolest things about combat in Crimson Capes is that enemies actually react to your moves. They’ll dodge and even parry your strikes, just like you do to them.
This is where feints become incredibly useful.
A feint baits the enemy into reacting defensively, leaving them open for a real follow-up attack.
However, don’t overuse feints.
Enemies will eventually catch on and attack you mid-feint, when you’re unable to defend yourself.
Taunts also serve a tactical purpose. They provoke enemies into attacking, giving you a predictable opening to parry. Use taunts to control the pace of the fight and bait out specific patterns.
Explore Everything and Go Off the Beaten Path
Crimson Capes features a non-linear world design that rewards curiosity. You can tackle missions in whatever order you choose, and secrets are hidden throughout every location.
Branching routes, hidden rooms, and optional encounters are everywhere.
Players who stray from the main path will find powerful upgrades, rare items, and lore that fleshes out the story.
Keep an eye out for fetishes, which are equippable magic items providing various combat bonuses.
You can swap them on the fly during missions, so experiment freely. You’ll also find weapon and armor upgrades scattered throughout levels, and some hidden artifacts can even alter your hero’s moveset entirely.
Use Providence to Prepare for Each Hunt
Providence is your home base, a repurposed temple serving as the Crimson Capes guild headquarters. You’ll return here between every mission.
Before heading out, set your equipment loadout carefully. Weapon and armor modifiers can only be changed at Providence, so don’t leave unprepared for the enemies you’ll face.
After defeating a wizard boss, bring their blood back and infuse it into your crimson cape to gain a new magical power.
These elemental abilities (wind, thunder, fire, darkness) are woven directly into combat and can dramatically change your playstyle.
Talk to the NPCs at Providence as well for context about side objectives and the state of the kingdom.
Unlock and Experiment With All Four Heroes
You start as Milon the Tempest, who wields a montante (greatsword) and leads the guild. But there are four playable heroes total, each with distinct weapon styles, fighting techniques, skill trees, and magical abilities.
You’ll unlock the other three as you progress.
Each draws from historically grounded fighting disciplines, from German longsword techniques to dagger-and-cloak combat.
Every character has their own set of Discipline moves (four per hero, light and heavy variants), adding up to 16 total Discipline moves across the roster.
Experiment with each hero. Some might be better suited for certain bosses or areas.
Swapping characters can give you a fresh perspective on encounters that were giving you trouble.
Take Advantage of Multiplayer
Crimson Capes features a full online multiplayer system inspired by the Souls games. You can team up in co-op to take on hunts together, which is a great way to tackle tough bosses.
But other players can also invade your game as a Deathblade.
These hostile players show up during your hunt to try and take you down, adding unpredictable PvP tension to every mission.
The game also features Dynamic Hunts, which are randomly generated missions with unique enemies and bosses each time.
Think Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons.
They’re perfect for earning extra loot and keeping things fresh. If you’re struggling, don’t hesitate to summon a co-op partner.
Blue Flower Checkpoints Are Your Lifeline
Scattered throughout every level, you’ll find fields of blue flowers. These function as checkpoints and rest points, similar to bonfires in Dark Souls.
Resting at a blue flower field will replenish your health and stamina and set a respawn point. Use these strategically.
Don’t rush past one just because you’re feeling confident. The game will surprise you with a tough encounter around the corner. Note that resting will cause regular enemies to respawn.
The good news is that you don’t drop your currency on death in Crimson Capes.
That takes some sting out of dying and lets you focus on learning patterns without the stress of losing resources.
Don’t Get Discouraged by the Difficulty Curve
Let’s be real. Crimson Capes is a hard game.
The difficulty curve is steep, especially early on when your moveset is limited. Boss fights demand patience, pattern recognition, and precise timing.
You’re going to die a lot, and that’s completely okay.
Every death teaches you something. Maybe you learned a boss’s attack pattern. Maybe you realized you need a different Discipline setup. Maybe you just need to stop being greedy with your attacks.
The combat has a learning curve that eventually “clicks.”
Once the system snaps into place, every fight starts to feel like a deadly, satisfying dance. The weight of each strike, the rhythm of stamina management, and the thrill of a perfect parry all come together beautifully.
If a boss is walling you, try switching heroes, changing your Discipline loadout, or exploring a different area first.
The non-linear structure means you always have options. Stick with it, keep refining your technique, and before you know it, you’ll be tearing through witch-hunts like a seasoned Tempest.
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Images in this article are from the Crimson Capes page on Steam and used under Fair Use.