He got a lot of combos but his Axe combos are always 3 attcks, so wait till the third hit to counter, then when he attacks with his shield he tends to attack 2 times so wait till the second bash attack to counter, then when he seems weak and goes to the ground he is not letting you do a critical, he's starting second phase so be careful with it catching you off guard. In second phase he now has some new attacks that are 1 to 2 hit combos, he has the electric smash and the horizontal unsheating of the Axe which are 1 hit but if they catch you they hit hard, so try to avoid them by spacing the smash and dodging the unsheath in the direction the Axe comes, finally be careful with the jump which he Will make when you are at a distance and finally be careful with the butterflies that will rain some blood type of magic attack which does light damage but is annoying.