First of all, a big congrats to the team behind Hellish Quart.

It's a great idea for a game and from what I've seen so far, a great implementation.

My only comment, as the title says, is that perhaps you should implement parrying to be active, like attacking. Instead of automatic parrying, as it currently is in the early access.

I mean, parrying // deflecting // blocking is a big and important part of any fight. And it'd be a shame to have a physics based fighting simulator, with realistic attacks, lethal body targets and all the other cool stuff you put into it if the fencer doesn't have to worry about parrying.

Of course, I understand that making parrying an active skill might raise the difficulty of the game, but it doesn't necessarily have to be symmetrical with the many possible attack modes.

You could make it so that there is just a single button // key for parrying that, when pressed, makes your fighter parry in the appropriate manner (whatever various forms that may take), against the incoming attack, depending on context.

My 2 cents.

Good luck with the development and keep doing a great job!