Crimson Moon Controls, Parry Timing and Combat Basics

Control table

Transcribed from the two ProbablyMonsters support articles on combat and stamina.

Action	Keyboard & mouse	Xbox controller	PS5 DualSense	Steam Deck
Light attack	Left mouse button	RB	R1	R1
Heavy attack (hold to charge)	Right mouse button	RT	R2	R1*
Weapon Art 1	X	Y + RT	Triangle + R2	Y + R2
Weapon Art 2	Z	Y + LT	Triangle + L2	Y + L2
Dodge	Shift	B	Circle	B
Sprint	Shift (hold)	B (hold)	Circle (hold)	B (hold)
Jump	Space	A	Cross	A
Parry	Q	LT	L2	L2

*The support article lists R1 for both light and heavy on Steam Deck; that is almost certainly a typo for R2, but we reproduce it as published.

Note the dodge/sprint overlap on Shift and B — the single most repeated complaint in launch-day Steam reviews (“I want my dodge away from my sprint button”) comes from exactly this row.

Keybinding: the current situation

As of 1 September 2026, Crimson Moon on PC has no key rebinding and no mouse sensitivity slider; you choose from a handful of preset layouts. The same day, ProbablyMonsters posted “An Update on PC Keybinding”: Team Metal is “working on a rapid first implementation of keybinding support”, aiming to ship it this week even if the first version is rough, with fixes in a follow-up patch. The post includes a preview screenshot of the options menu.

This page will be updated with the actual bindings screen once the patch is live.

The three attacks

Light attacks are the support team’s “bread and butter”: low damage, weak against shields, but they keep you mobile, chain into a sequence, and can be cancelled into a dodge or parry at any point.

Heavy attacks have a long start-up and “big pay offs”. Hold the button to charge for more damage. The team’s own advice is to use them when an enemy is not focused on you or is depleted — several Boons reward the charged version specifically (Crimson Smite: 750 Bleed on a charged heavy hit; Wrathful Smite: 3 Angelic Grace on a fully charged hit).

Weapon Arts are the weapon’s magic abilities. They cost mana, have their own cooldown, and are the main way to apply status effects at range. All 28 are listed on the Weapon Arts page. Some Arts also buff you and allies.

Sprint attacks: start sprinting, then press light or heavy, and the attack becomes a lunge. Six Boons key off it (Relentless Momentum, Resounding Charge, Momentum Charge and the three “Charge” status appliers).

Parry timing

The parry window is “just before an enemy attack hits”. A successful parry staggers the attacker and adds a small amount to the Angel Ascension meter; the Perfect Parry achievement had been earned by 68.7% of players one day after launch, so the timing is learnable. A failed parry costs you the hit and the stamina you would have needed to dodge the follow-up, which is why the support team calls it “a high-risk tactic”.

What you cannot parry: attacks with a red aura. Those are unblockable; dodge them. Some Steam reviewers report the parry window feeling inconsistent; nothing official addresses that yet.

Parry-triggered Boons make this the highest-reward defensive option in the game: Crushing Rebuke (150 damage), Frostbrand Seal (1000 Frost), Seal of Flame, Seal of Blight and Shield of Many all fire on a parry. See the parry family on the builds page.

Stamina

Sprint, jump, dodge and parry all draw from stamina, which the lore frames as weakened by the Spire. Two practical rules from the support article: stop sprinting just before an encounter so the bar refills, and do not chain dodges — “dodging too much will reduce your stamina and leave you vulnerable”, and you can dodge into an attack. Defiant Vigor (20 stamina when hit by an unblocked melee attack) and Vigorous Strikes (10 stamina per heavy hit) are the stamina Boons.

Camera and lock-on

A cluster of negative Steam reviews describes the lock-on camera swinging violently during the tutorial boss, and one reviewer reports motion sickness from it. There is no official statement on the camera as of 2 September 2026 and it is not on the Known Issues list. We mention it because it is the second most common launch complaint after keybinding; we cannot offer a fix.

Executions

When an Elite enemy is nearly dead it staggers and an execute icon appears. Walk up and press the prompt: executions cannot be interrupted and fill up to half a stage of the Ascension meter. Three Boons pay out on executions (Executor’s Strength, Invigorating Blood, Mana Drain: +5 max health, stamina or mana each), and Edict of Condemnation marks everything within 7 metres. Executions are also unique per enemy type, per the store page.

Angels and Angel Ascension — what the meter you are charging actually does.
Status effects — Bleed, Burn, Frost, Poison, Marked, Rage, Sunderance.
Known issues and fixes — crashes, ultrawide, save loss.

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