The bosses are many players’ favorite part of Fromsoft games, mine included. This is because over the years, Fromsoft has completely and utterly perfected the formula it takes to make a compelling and challenging boss fight and this formula has only arguably gotten better with each subsequent game.
Sekiro is no exception. Paired with one of the greatest combat systems to ever grace a video game, Fromsoftware also included some of the most memorable, dynamic and difficult boss fights in the entire industry and wrapped it nicely into one game. Most fights truly feel like a dance between skilled masters of the blade.
With that being said, Sekiro is difficult. Oh sweet lord, it is difficult. Each boss fight can take you a multitude of deaths if you don’t know how to properly deal with them. So, this list serves to rank all the main bosses of the game based on difficulty but also includes notes on how to best deal with them!
Right off the bat, as soon as you spawn into the arena, do a full 180° turn and start swinging. This way, you can kill the invisible monkey quickly without having to do the guessing game later on which can take a long time
Face the correct way again and go to the building on the left, where there will be a room lit up with candles with a giant door to the end
Open the door
Now, find the orange monkey and kill him as it is very easy to (this can be done at any point but best to get it over with early so he can’t alert the others at any point)
Next, lure the purple monkey to the room with the candles through the opening in the roof
When he reaches the bottom, the room will be dark so he won't be able to see so you can kill him there easily
Next, lure the green monkey to the central platform of the main building in the back (he goes there a lot as it is)
Once he is there, make your way to the lower parapets where you will find a giant bell
With the green monkey on the platform, sneak to the bell and ring it
This will cause the green monkey to get stunned, where you can grapple up to him and kill him
Deflect all of her moves, even the melee moves done without weapons such as her kicks
You have to keep attacking, giving her any space or time away will get her posture bar to start resetting
In her second phase, use snap seeds only after she has spawned the ghost spearmen enemies
Use the snap seeds after you see them all spawn, don’t use them when they turn into the butterfly homing attack as it won’t work then and will waste your snap seed
The snap seed usage always has at least 1 spearman remaining so be sure to kill him before resuming the fight with Lady Butterfly
If you didn’t use the snap seed correctly and the spearmen turn into the homing butterflies, quickly run as far as you can and hide behind a pillar to block the attack and avoid the boss at the same time
For Emma, stay up in her face and keep hitting her
After she deflects you, deflect a couple of her moves then repeat the process
Don’t stay at a distance
Most of Isshin’s moveset can be trivialized by the firecrackers
Use firecrackers as soon as he starts his animation
Animation of first ichimonji can be interrupted but not the animation or attack of the second one
Watch out for the the read of Isshin’s One Mind move and run away as far as you can when you see it
This is one of his most dangerous moves as it can completely obliterate your health bar. You can try to deflect this but it is very risky
Most important note for this fight is to always use the firecrackers as soon as he is starting any combo
Just memorize his moveset enough to the point where you realize which moves can be interrupted with firecrackers, with like 80% of his moves being interruptible
Learn this and use firecrackers as soon as he is starting up any of the interruptible moves
Watch out for all the tells of his sweeps and thrusts and react accordingly
He does a palm strike that is always followed by a thrust so expect this to Mikiri counter it
Whenever he runs a bit to the left or right, he is ready to do a slash that can do a ton of damage so be careful and deflect at the right time
His most confusing move is an AoE wind slash that has a very long wind up and is difficult to run away from if you are right in front of him and is very delayed
This can be blocked but will still deal vitality damage so since it is very delayed, learn to deflect at the last moment
2nd phase is the hardest as he brings out a massive glaive from the ground, increasing his moveset and range significantly
As soon as the second phase starts, run away as the phase transition where he brings out his glaive can do damage to you
Apply any new buffs/heal while he is taking the glaive out
His flurry is a 7 hit combo that’s very fast but repeatedly pressing deflect won’t work to get you perfect deflects
Each subsequent attack comes out a little delayed than the one before
So, don’t spam deflect button and instead learn the timings
Bait his slam by staying at a distance as this is very easy to deflect
Keep in mind most of his combos will end in his thrust attack that can be mikiri countered
That’s why you shouldn’t be impatient and start hacking away at him as soon as you think his combo has ended
When you see him running towards you, start running to the left or block as he may bring out his rapid fire gun to deal a ton of damage
Phase 3 is identical to phase 2 but a little easier due to lightning attacks
Lightning attacks do a ton of damage but reversing them is easy and do a lot of damage to Isshin and stun him for you to get more hits on him
When you see him jump in the air, jump as well and press the deflect button
If he jumped to do a lightning attack, you can just reverse it like you’re supposed to
However, if he does his glaive slam instead, you can just deflect it mid-air
Equip double ichimonji as it is very useful for this fight
His thrust attack is fairly easy to read in phase 1 and can easily be mikiri countered
When he jumps back and throws firecrackers, he usually follows up with the thrust attack from behind the crackers
As soon as he jumps back, you do the same in order to not be blinded by them and do a mikiri counter as soon as you see the perilous attack indicator marker disappear from your head
He also has a sweep attack which is unreliable to jump on his head after because of his delays and mix-ups
Instead, jump over the sweep and wait for him to roll over and do the overhead slam where he lifts his arms above his head
This is also a tricky move to dodge or deflect as it is very delayed
Dodge to the right at the very last second before the attack as dodging too soon will have him turn the overhead slam into a slash that will almost always hit
Best way is doing ichimonji after a dodge as soon as he brings his sword down
Punish flip slam with ichimonji
Firecracker combo is always shoulder hit, side slash then firecracker throw
After the 2 initial hits, just jump backwards to not be caught in firecrackers
Remember, no thrust attacks as he can mikiri counter as well
Phase 2 is pretty similar, just now he will throw shurikens after he backflips away so be prepared
When you're locked onto him and the lock on suddenly disappears, just start sprinting backwards immediately
This means he has vanished and will teleport on top of you to do a slam attack
He will always follow up a fireball with a thrust
As soon as you jump over the fireball owl attack, position yourself and get ready for a mikiri counter right after you land
Lure it to the northwest corner of the map, which is the cliff area
Once it is there, run along the edge of the cliff to in front of the castle
This will lock the boss in place over the cliff
Once in front of the castle, run to the wooden watchtower closest to the roof
Keep trying to climb up the watchtower by double jumping and ledge holding
Once on top of the tower, sprint and jump onto the roof of the castle
Once you are there, run to the very edge of the castle that is overlooking the cliff where the boss is and just stand as close to the corner as possible
This bugs the AI of the Demon as he tries to hit you from the cliff to the roof of the castle
This will eventually have the boss try to hit you but fall off the cliff instead, ending the boss fight there
Being naturally attuned to magic and bearing the strength of a thousand men, it's safe to say I'm used to adding a creative flair to my stories, always striving to tell engaging tales.
Gamer Since:
2005
Favorite Genre:
RPG
Currently Playing:
Whatever I can get my hands on
Top 3 Favorite Games:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Dark Souls 3
