Originally posted by sinsorrow1:

for those who play with keyboard and mouse:

swipe attack: while the staff is in your hand, stand still, hold EVADE (spacebar) and attack once (mouse 1)

counterattack: BLOCK (shift) followed by USE (E)

evade counter: EVADE (spacebar) followed by a normal attack (mouse 1)

takedown (when a red marker flashes on the target): go close and press USE (E)

focus attacks: to get it to work you have to land a couple normal attacks, then there's going to be a warning message saying the focus attack is ready and the staff is going to glow, after that you can activate the combo with USE (E) + HEAVY ATTACK (F)