Elden Ring, like most Souls games, typically rewards you for finding the most efficient method to defeat its difficult bosses. This can be done through overpowered designs or cheap, uninspired strategies. However, when these same tactics get turned on others, things can get ugly fast Elden Ring Runes.
Carian Retaliation (also known as "Retaliation") is an Ash of War skill that when applied to medium and small shields, allows you to parry enemies' spells, and also gain three daggers floating of your own that then automatically attack the enemy for a brief period of time. It's at least how it's supposed work.
In reality, skilled Elden Ring players are using the ability to block their own spells, whether created naturally or using consumables such as Glintstone Scraps. This gives them an easily spammable attack that scales with the shield's level of upgrade to be a terrifying threat to regular mobs, bosses, and other Tarnished alike.
Scarier still is the fact that Carian Retaliation is affected by online gaming. While players can observe opponents using the skill and the daggers it creates however, the attack itself is invisible, making it difficult to dodge even you are aware of what to be expecting.
A quick search of the Elden Ring subreddit shows a community in turmoil, with many players seeking Carian Retaliation to be fixed or altered by the game's developers. And seeing as FromSoftware has removed a similar self activation technique from the game's most recent 1.03 patch, it's not far-fetched to believe that those requests are likely to be answered in the near future.
In any event, Carian Retaliation is something people have to manage for now. Next time you're online and spot an invading character approaching you with a trio of magical knives hovering above their head Perhaps you could consider dressing up by claiming to cheap Elden Ring Items and be an NPC till the player gets bored and leave.
