The **Halfmoon Slash** could fill up an entire guide on its own. This is the least understood, most difficult, and **most important** melee combat technique. At its simplest, you can activate a Halfmoon Slash by holding **R1**. Aloy will first perform a **Light Attack**. Then, after half a second, her spear will begin to glow. This lets you know that a Halfmoon Slash is charged and ready to deploy. Similar to a Power Attack, the way to use a Halfmoon Slash is to *release* the button on your controller. When you let go of **R1**, Aloy will perform a quick dash-and-slash attack dealing damage equivalent to a Light Attack. Part of the reason this attack is underappreciated is because what I just described is useless. You very rarely want to perform a random Light Attack so that you can charge up a Halfmoon Slash that will itself do the same amount of damage. That's not how you want to use ability. Instead, the power of the Halfmoon Slash is its ability to cancel other animations. **You can use a Halfmoon Slash directly following a Power Attack to chain together melee combos.** Heck, you can even use a Halfmoon Slash *in the middle* of a Power Attack, preventing the attack and allowing Aloy to move rapidly on the battlefield. If you want to, you can release a Halfmoon Slash while dodging and Aloy will magically stop rolling and start attacking. It's a blast. Practically speaking, however, **Halfmoon Slash** is best used to seamlessly connect **Power Attacks** with attack combinations like **Block Breaker**. >>Power Attack + Halfmoon Slash + Block Breaker >>**R2_(hold)—R1_(hold)—R1—R2** >>_(Note that the Halfmoon Slash takes the place of the first **R1** attack in the Block Breaker combo.)_ I refer to these strings of attacks as **Sequences**. This is part of the longer Block Breaker Sequence [described below](#Sequence). The challenging part of completing this sequence is becoming comfortable with the timing of the Halfmoon Slash. Practice in an open area with no enemies around. Start by holding **R2** until your Power Attack is fully charged. No rush. Now, prepare to release **R2**. As soon as you let go, hold down **R1**.\* Keep holding it! Aloy should complete her Power Attack animation, and you should now be able to see that your spear is glowing slightly. This means that you succeeded in charging the Halfmoon Slash. Now, when you release **R1**, she will complete the slash animation.