File:Lorn the Blind, the Lord of Loneliness (Riposte).gif

Summary
As you can see, riposte does massive damage, and this is before I unlocked runes to enhance my weapons further, or unlocked any significant upgrades. Riposte also does vastly more damage, when the insanity meter is low, in a trade for taking much more damage, if you fail. Furthermore, ripostes will always stun Acolytes, regardless of how many times you land them.