How to down attack in The Rogue Prince of Persia

Perfecting the down attack in The Rogue Prince of Persia will let you take down shielded enemies with ease, but the mechanic has intricacies that are tricky to master at first.

You'll want to pick up and perfect all of the different moves at your disposal in-game if you wish to survive as long as possible, as tacking enemies head-on isn't exactly the best strategy.

How to down attack

In order to down attack you'll need to jump, then press the jump button again while holding down on the analogue stick (or 'S' on your keyboard). Doing this will cause the Prince to dive bomb down onto whatever lies beneath him, dealing a decent amount of damage.

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The trick here is that it seems like you can only perform a down attack when jumping from high ground onto an enemy below, and it doesn't work if you try to do it on level ground. This is where I got the most confused, as I couldn't figure out the parameters needed to pull it off - especially in the heat of a battle.

As far as I can tell you can do it when dropping from a ledge, but you need to be quick with the second press of the jump button as you obviously have less time suspended in the air.

Benefits of the down attack

The key reason why you'll want to do a down attack is that it clears the shields of an enemy if you manage to hit them, even if you haven't done any damage to them prior.

This is one of the most effective ways to get through areas unscathed, as shielded enemies are impervious to kicks and can take a beating before you're able to defeat them. Doing this effectively cuts out half their health, making them a lot easier to eliminate, especially if you're jumping into a group of foes.

Outside of this though the down attack does a decent amount of damage, and is a great way to open an encounter as otherwise you'd just be jumping down in front of them and ceding your advantage. If you're lucky you might even stun an enemy, letting you get a few extra hits in before they can even react.

Learn more on our Prince of Persia homepage, where tips will lead you to more Spirit Glimmers and let you figure out whether you should sacrifice health for exciting rewards.