Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice boss guide

Playing Sekiro is a bit like punching yourself in the face – you’ll knock yourself out eventually, but it’s gonna take some time and it’s gonna be painful.

The biggest roadblock to completion are the boss battles. Even some of the minibosses can be a pain in the arse. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the most troublesome, provided video footage of how to beat them, and given you some pointers below.

Sekiro boss guide

Sekiro Jozuo the Drunkard guide

He might technically only be a miniboss, but Jozuo the Drunkard can be a proper pain in the arse to take down. It’s mainly because he’s surrounded by loads of normal mobs, making it easy to be overwhelmed. In this strategy, I’ll explain how to cheese him so the fight is much easier.

First you need to thin the herd. There’s a route on the left that allows you to creep around to Jozuo. Do not trigger the nearby NPC – instead, creep around to the left in solo. Take out the guards stationed there and make your way to the main group. Now it’s guerrilla tactics time: get a stealth kill, get a couple of quick, cheeky kills on the mobs, then run back around the same route. The idea is to make them all split up and cut down any stragglers.

You’ll soon thin the herd. At some point, if you keep movement dynamic, you’ll also cause Juzou to lose track of you – that’s your chance to get a stealth stab in and take down one of his two health bars. As soon as you do this, leg it to the NPC and talk to him, causing him to fight alongside you. Now it’s just a case of hitting Juzou in the back whenever his attention is on the NPC. It’s what a ninja would do.

Sekiro Lady Butterfly guide

The trick to beating Lady Butterfly is to be aggressive and don’t let up. Get in close and hit her with two strikes, parry, then immediately follow up with two strikes. Try to keep it going as much as possible and you’ll soon push her posture gauge up. Ideally, you want to come into the fight with the shuriken prosthetic. When she gets into the air, use those to knock her back down to earth. If you fail to knock her out of the sky, get ready to dodge – if she lands her mid-air grab she might kill you outright, but it’s telegraphed well. Here are some more tips for beating her:

Contrary to what the NPC says on the way to her, you don’t need Snap Seeds to win. When she calls her illusions, just run to the other end of the room and she will recall them. When she does this they turn into energy that homes in and damages you. Stand on the other side of a wooden pillar to block them.
Remember to jump her sweep attack. If you manage to jump off her as well, you will do big posture damage.

Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa guide

The easiest way to beat this mounted foe is with the Firecracker prosthetic. You get this from a merchant who’s on a mountainside just after the gate behind the first miniboss. The easiest way to get to him is to backtrack from the chained ogre and climb upwards. There’s another merchant at ground level not far away – it’s not him. Once you have it, go back to the hub and fit it, then equip it from the menu and head to the boss. Here’s some tips for beating him:

Try to only use the firecrackers a couple of times in the first phase because the second phase is much harder without firecrackers. Get in close and do damage.
When he starts using the whip, close the distance and it won’t hurt you. It’s a good opportunity to do some free damage.
In his second phase, he will attack you shortly after a firecracker stun. It’s important to not get too greedy with getting in hits. A couple will do, then back off and do it again.

Sekiro Blazing Bull guide

The easiest way to deal with the Blazing Bull is to be aggressive and make sure you have the fireworks prosthetic equipped. Get in close to the bull, don’t lock on, and stay near its rear leg, to its side. It will keep trying to gouge you, but you can happily swing away as long as you keep correcting yourself as it turns. Just hack away and dodge forwards to maintain position. After a while, it will hop off in a rage. Get in before it can cause any damage, use the fireworks to make it buck, and finish it off.

Sekiro Armored Warrior guide

This guy can be extremely annoying if you don’t know what you’re doing. Initially, I thought you had to break his armour because I listened in on a couple of soldiers who seemed to suggest as such. However, you don’t need to use the spear prosthetic attachment at all for this fight. All you need is your sword, your axe, and some patience.

It doesn’t matter how many times you do a finishing blow on this guy, he’ll keep coming back. The idea is to get him to destroy the walls of the walkway and finish him off near one of the exposed sides, kicking him into the abyss. Armour isn’t much good against a 200 foot drop, it turns out. Here are some general combat tips for the battle:

Use your axe at every opportunity. The axe does big posture damage and the Armored Warrior often goes for big swings that leave him exposed – take those opportunities to use the axe when you can.
Keep circling him as you fight and you’ll get plenty of opportunities to strike at his back.
If you get a danger warning, that means he’s about to lunge. The best way to avoid it is to take a couple of quick backstep dodges.
If you see him crouch down and scream as if he’s going to pounce, simply back up as far as you can. He’ll slash at the floor a few times and then finish up with a lunging thrust that can reach quite far. Just keep your distance and it’s easy to avoid.

Sekiro Genichiro Ashina guide

This is one of the most difficult bosses in the game because it’s a war of attrition. He doesn’t take much time to beat, but three forms makes for a demoralising loss when he does get you. Like Lady Butterfly, he really doesn’t like it when you play aggressively. Here are some tips for taking Genichiro Ashina down:

Use your axe whenever you get a chance, and follow it up with a normal attack to turn it into a combo. His posture can’t stand much of this.
In his first two forms, he will fire an arrow at you whenever you heal. Luckily, it takes him longer to draw the arrow than it does for you to drink the potion, so just do a quick sidestep dodge as soon as it’s down the hatch.
In his first form, most of his unblockable attacks are thrusts. Use these as an opportunity to sidestep and hit him in the back. In his second and third forms, his sweeps can be dangerous, but you can jump over them and jump off him for big posture damage.
His third form is intimidating, but it has weak posture on account of having no armour. Use this to your advantage and don’t let him breath. Make sure you’re in the air when he throws lightning and be ready to hit as soon as you land for a big counter.

Sekiro Guardian Ape guide

This boss seems impossible at first, but he’s not as bad as you think once you learn its attack patterns. Here’s how to deal with its first phase:

Most of its flurried attacks can be jumped over or parried. You ideally want to get yourself into position behind him and deliver punishment as often as possible. It’s also vulnerable just after it lands from throwing its poop – easily parried or dodged – as well as after it finishes thrashing on its back.
Repeated hits will cause the Guardian Ape to flinch, so keep up the punishment. Use your firecracker prosthetic to create big openings. The first time you use the firecracker, he will flop to the floor where you can get in a bunch of free hits. The next few times, he will try to flop on you, so don’t run in to attack too early.
When he backs off and roars, you can actually grapple onto the sword handle sticking out of his head. This is another way to create a window for some free attacks.

Here’s how to deal with phase two:

The biggest threat to phase two of the Guardian Ape is his terror-inducing roar. It’s a large area of effect attack that can kill you outright by filling your terror meter. Whenever a kanji appears just run away as fast as possible. If you do get caught a bit, make sure to use some pacifying agent to lower your terror in case he does it again.
Most of his sword swings can be parried, but the easiest opening comes when he does a diving forward lunge with his sword. Jump straight over it, get in close, and bring the pain.
Jump – a lot. Many of his attacks come low and horizontally so keep hopping around like a, well, ape.

The rest of the bosses will be added tomorrow.