Originally posted by Troppamus:

You mentioned not having enough stamina to block or dodge. Well, walking is the better alternative, because its better than free, it slightly restores stamina while you're doing it!

I don't agree with all of your comments, but this is spot on. Blocking and dodging are mostly delay tactics that drain stamina and don't do anything to degrade your enemy. Parrying is a win-win-win, in that it provide the defense of a block or dodge, prevents the enemy from attacking, and greatly enhances your followup attack.

Of course, you have to have enough stamina to pull it off, and that's where walking comes in.

My fighting style is to be aggressive on attack, which means either leading off with a 3-hit combo with whatever weapon I'm using (usually sword), which will easily finish off most enemies, or hold for the parry, followed by a strong attack (sword secondary), which will finish off most stronger enemies, or at least do significant damage.

Between attack, walk around, reposition, and build back up your stamina for the next attack. Unfortunately (IMO), most enemies in Valheim will be happy to give you a chance to recover between attack while they run around in circles for no apparent reason.