Attacking in The Banner Saga

There are two types of attacks in The Banner Saga - those which hit the enemy's Strength, and those which hit the enemy's Shield. These are represented by red and blue icons, respectively.

The only way to kill an enemy character is to reduce its Strength to 0. However, this may not be possible without hitting the enemy's Shield first, as a high enough Shield rating gives enemies a chance to deflect attacks for nulled damage.

You must then balance attacking Shield with Strength in order to steadily wear both of them down.