Sekiro Shadows Die Twice Boss Guide (All Bosses)

Sekiro Shadows Die Twice contains lots of boss fights. This Sekiro Boss Guide will walk you through the best tactics to defeat all bosses in the game. They are listed in chronological order below. Please note that some bosses can be encountered in a different order depending on what area you visit first, this list is how it’s intended by the game based on area difficulty.

Whenever you encounter a new boss, it’s recommended to do a practice run where you only focus on blocking and dodging, without even attacking. This will teach you the attack patterns and when there’s an opening for attack. Reducing an enemy’s health also leads to their posture (defense) recharging at a slower rate so it’s always useful to use unblockable attacks to get in some damage. Search all areas carefully as you go through the game to find useful items and upgrades. The only way to level up stats in Sekiro is to defeat bosses and use the items that they dropped.

There are 3 key points at which some bosses become unavailable:

• After killing the “Corrupted Monk” in Ashina Depths and the “Guardian Ape” in Sunken Valley some old bosses in Ashina Castle to disappear and new ones spawn.
• If you choose the Shura Ending you’ll miss lots of endgame bosses. Likewise, if you don’t choose that ending you won’t get the fight the Shura Ending specific bosses. You’ll need 2 playthroughs minimum to defeat all bosses.
• After killing “Divine Dragon” in Fountainhead Palace bosses in the following regions disappear and new ones spawn: Ashina Castle, Ashina Reservoir, Ashina Outskirts.

Make sure when reaching one of these points you got all bosses so far. Otherwise you’ll miss out on some bosses but can still get them in New Game+.

Boss #1 – General Naomori Kawarada

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Gate Path
Immediately after this sculptor’s idol you will encounter a big samurai. He’s the only enemy in a courtyard.

Strategy: Sneak above the rooftops on the left without being seen by General Naomori. Then sneak up to him from behind and stab him in the back. This immediately takes away one of his lives. Now simply attack with standard sword attacks / and whenever he attacks simply block (or counter by pressing the block button / just before his attacks land). Blocking his less risky though. After he finishes an attack chain you attack him again. Repeat until his guard breaks. Remember you have a revive and can restore health.

Reward: Prayer Bead & Gourd Seed

Boss #2 – Chained Ogre

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Stairway
Immediately after this sculptor’s idol you will see the chained ogre upstairs.

Strategy: First, kill all of the smaller enemies in the area. Before you even head upstairs to the ogre take out the two guards at the bottom of the stairs. After you go upstairs, head around the left corner to kill the one guy with a spear. Now it’s just you vs. the ogre. When the ogre attacks, press and dodge twice , / , . This will put you behind the Ogre’s back where he can’t hit you. Land 2-3 hits and repeat. With this I was able to do the fight without taking a single hit.

Reward: Prayer Bead & Shinobi Medicine Rank 1

Boss #3 – General Tenzen Yamauchi

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Stairway
In the next area after the Chained Ogre you find this boss.

Strategy: Ignore the boss for now and just kill all of the mobs (smaller enemies) in the area. Try not to lose too much health here, ideally without using heal. After the mobs are dead, backtrack the way you came and escape the boss’s sight. Then come back and sneak behind his back, with an attack from behind you can instantly take one of his lives. Now use the same tactic as for the Ogre: when the boss attacks press , dodge, dodge, strike. Repeat until his defense breaks. If you killed the first boss Naomori you already got a Gourd Seed from him, and another can be found in the building after the Chained Ogre. With these two seeds you can upgrade the healing gourd (health flask) twice so you have 3 heals.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #4 – Gyoubu Oniwa

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Ashina Castle Gate Fortress
After the last boss “General Tenzen Yamauchi” you must drop down a cliff (where a tree is facing a big gap / abyss to the other side). After dropping down you come to a canyon where a big snake attacks you. Make it through this area and follow the main path until you reach a battleground where Gyoubu Oniwa comes riding on his horse through a gate.

Strategy: Gyoubu is the first real “main boss” in the game. He rides on a horse and attacks with a spear. His strength is his long reach but his weakness is his poor defense. As with any big boss you should first learn to block all attacks, do one test run and just block everything without even worrying about attacking. When you got the attack pattern memorized you can start.
The easiest way is to block his chain attacks until he does a heavy attack that leaves him defenseless / unable to move for 2-3 seconds. Then attack him twice. Immediately start blocking again or if your posture is about to break, dodge back 2-3 times to get away and take a moment to let posture recharge. Just block all of his attacks (don’t counter, just hold the block-button) and always attack when he’s unable to move. Repeat this process. It takes a while but is relatively riskless. Another thing to look out for is when there’s a green dot above Gyoubu’s head. Then you can grapple him with / . This will also temporarily make him unable to move for 2-3 seconds. Enough time to land 2 hits! Then just block again. You could also keep your distance and let him ride around the area, then only use the grapple and attack twice, get away, wait for the next grapple opportunity and repeat. This way you can always land two hits while keeping your distance.
After taking his first life he will start doing a sweep attack (red icon on screen). Jump / to avoid it. When you take his second life press / again to execute him.

Reward: Memory: Gyoubu Oniwa (Strength Upgrade), Mechanical Barrel (Prosthetic Tool Upgrade)

Boss #5 – Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen

Location: Hirata Estate – Estate Path
To get to Hirata Estate you must use the Bell that you got from the old woman in Ashina Outskirts (she’s between 1st boss General Naomori and 2nd boss Chained Ogre). Use the bell at the Altar in the Dilapidated Temple where the Sculptor sits. Follow the Estate Path until you cross a bridge with two shield enemies. After this is a garden area you encounter a guy in a white robe with a spear, that’s the boss.

Strategy: Stealth kill the torch enemy nearest the bridge, then run forward and take out the archer and the other two melee enemies. Now run away, just backtrack the way you come so the boss loses sight. Now you no longer need to deal with the mobs. Sneak along the grass on the left and stealth-attack the boss. This takes away one of his two lives. Now use , dodge, dodge to get behind him, land two hits, repeat. Alternatively, use the Whirlwind Combat art when you’re behind him.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #6 – Juzou the Drunkard

Location: Hirate Estate – Main Hall
Remember where you crossed the bridge with the two shield enemies, just before our last boss Shinobi Hunter? Backtrack to that bridge and jump down in the water. Then swim upriver until you see a branch on the left that you can grapple on to. Then follow the path until you need to wall-jump up a well and eventually reach burning mansions. There you’ll encounter Juzou.

Strategy: Talk to the Samurai that stands in the shallow water just before encountering Juzou (straight in front of where Juzou stands). The samurai is standing by a rock and wears blue clothing. When you talk to him he will fight on your side! This is super helpful as he will distract the boss while you take care of all the smaller enemies. The samurai will likely die after a few seconds. When the mobs are dealt with it’s only you vs. the boss. Lock on to him and always press   , dodge 2-3 times, hit twice, repeat. The boss won’t be able to hit you when you dodge in his direction (thus getting behind his back). This strategy works for almost every boss in the game. Repeat until he’s dead.

Reward: Unrefined Sake, Prayer Bead

Boss #7 – Lady Butterfly

Location: Hirata Estate – Hirata Audience Chamber
You enter this place immediately after the Juzou boss (building that he guarded). There’s only one archer and behind him you can interact with a floor pad. This leads downstairs to a big gate. To open it you need the key that you get when following the path after Boss #5 (Shinobi Hunter). When you follow that path to the end you will have gotten to meet a friend in a burning courtyard that gave you the key. Then the gate to the boss fight can be opened.

Strategy: This boss fight has two phases. Even though Lady Butterfly only shows 1 life, she will actually respawn after you killed her once (meaning you must defeat her twice). She attacks quickly and has the biggest moveset yet. Do 2-3 practice runs just studying her moveset and trying to block & dodge her attacks so you get the movement down. For this fight equip the Whirlwind Combat Art. When she’s about to launch an attack always   , dodge, dodge, use Whirlwind ( + / + ). Repeat until she’s dead. Dodging at the right time takes a little practice with her. When she does an attack with a red icon onscreen always dodge sideways very quickly. After you killed her the first time, run to the end of the area where she first came from at the start of the fight. Here she will respawn. Be there before she spawns so you can attack her from behind straight away. Do the same tactic as before dodge, dodge, whirlwind, repeat. The only difference now is that she will summon illusions to fight for her (silhouettes of soldiers). When she does that simply jump around the area in the big circle (run behind the wooden pillars while pressing / quickly to jump). After a few seconds the ghosts go away. They will turn into bright lights but if you keep running around the area and jumping the will never hit you. Normally these could instant kill you if you’re not evading them. With the ghosts gone it’s the same as in the first phase. From time to time she will summon bright lights and shoot them at you, always dodge them as they cannot be blocked. When she calls ghosts the 2nd time run away again until they disappear. By this point in the game your gourd should have at least 4 uses.

Reward: Memory Lady Butterfly (Strength Upgrade), Sakura Droplet (+1 Resurrection)

Boss #8 – Blazing Bull

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Ashina Castle Gate
You will encounter this boss just after fighting Gyoubu Oniwa, inside the main castle.

Strategy: The flaming bull has a lot of health but only one life. It can’t block any of your attacks. It does extremely powerful attacks that cannot be fully blocked (blocking still causes you some damage), but it can only attack with its horns. So if you stand behind the bull it can’t hit you. The bull has two main movements: running towards you, and attacking with his horns quickly while standing still. When it runs towards you, always dodge forward   + / when its horns are touching the ground. To learn the timing will take some tries. It’s recommended to do 2 or 3 test runs just to practice the dodge. When the bull slides its horns across the ground it’s about to do an extremely powerful frontal attack that can one-hit kill you. So always dodge forward when the horn touches the ground to evade this attack 100% of the time. When the bull finishes running it will be vulnerable for a second while turning around. Get 1-2 hits in but always stand to its side or behind its back. When the bull stands still to attack is when you can deal most damage. ALWAYS dodge BEHIND the bull. Not to the side of it, BEHIND its back. You can land 2-3 hits while it does its attack motion. It will then turn a little bit your way so you need to dodge 1 time to get behind its back again and repeat this pattern. When the bull starts running again, focus first and foremost on dodging. Try to land a hit when the bull turns around but don’t force it, getting hit by its running move will take away more than half your health and isn’t worth the risk. Get the most damage in when it stands still by just dodging behind its back. When the bull’s health gets low, just start throwing shuriken at it to do a fair amount of damage from a safe distance.
Tip: from where we fought Gyoubu Oniwa you can go across the battlefield and up the stairs to a merchant. He sells a Gourd Seed for 1000 money which you can bring to Emma at the Dilapidated Temple to increase the Gourd uses, thus giving you more health.

Reward: Prayer Bead, Shinobi Medicine Rank 2

Boss #9 – General Kuranosuke Matsumoto

Location: Ashina Castle
After defeating the Blazing Bull, head up the stairs straight in front of you. At the top of the stairs you find 4 riflemen and this boss.

Strategy: General Kuranosuke is exactly the same as the first boss General Naomori, just with more health and posture, and he also deals more damage. Start by killing the 4 riflemen. When they are dead, retreat the way you came until the boss loses sight of you. Then grapple up to the rooftops to get behind him and do a stealth takedown. One life down, one to go. Simply double-dodge towards him whenever he attacks and use a Whirlwind Combat Art:   , ,  ,  + . Do this each time he launches an attack, repeat until he’s defeated.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #10 – Seven Achina Spears – Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi

Location: Ashina Castle – Ashina Reservoir
After entering the Ashina castle, take the path to your left, open a gate and drop down. Then you find the Reservoir idol. Near the idol is an area with two big hammer guys and some stairs leading up to the temple where you first saw the divine heir in the prologue. There you find the Seven Spears boss.

Strategy: This is one of few bosses where dodge, dodge, attack will NOT work. He uses spear sweeps which will still hit you. He also has a ton of health. The best way to defeat him quickly is to break his guard, which in this fight means a lot of deflection and Mikiri Counters. First, we’ll take away one of his lives with a stealth takedown. From the idol, jump left across the trees and you’ll land between a rifleman and a drummer. Quickly kill the drummer so he doesn’t alert the camp. Then take the same path you took in the prologue to climb around the left side of the mountain and climb through the hole to the temple. Don’t be seen by any enemies or they’ll chase you during the boss fight! After you get to the temple via the cliffside you can attack the boss from behind. One life down, one to go. The “Firecrackers” Prosthetic Tool (bought from merchant near Ashina Outskirts – Gate Path) + the combat art “Ichimonji: Double” (Ashina Arts combat style) are highly recommended. First do some Mikiri Counters (block and then press the dodge button without any directional buttons when a spear strike with red sign is about to land – , ). When he uses sweeps you do a double jump to cause posture damage. The other moves you try to deflect or block and try to attack in between to keep his posture from recharging. When his posture is about 30% down, you start throwing firecrackers to stun him and immediately use Ichimoji: Double combat art to attack. This combat art does massive posture damage. With this combo you can stun him 8 times in a row and keep using the combat art until his guard breaks. Additionally, you can use “Fistful of Ash” (item) to stun him up to 10 more times. An easy win for an otherwise very difficult fight. Don’t try to take down all his health, he has way too much of it, breaking his guard is the way to go.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #11 – Lone Shadow Longswordman

Location: Ashina Castle – Ashina Reservoir
After entering the Ashina castle, take the path to your left, open a gate and drop down. Then you find the Reservoir idol. From the idol jump across the two tree branches to the left and you’ll land in an enemy camp between a rifleman and a drummer. Behind the drummer walk up to the cliff, then look to the right. Here you can grapple on to a point across the abyss. This brings you to an area with a friendly samurai standing above a hole. Jump down the hole to find the boss.

Strategy: Whenever the boss is about to launch an attack, dodge towards him (past his left side), then use the Whirlwind Combat art & repeat. You just need to get the timing down. Dodge towards him exactly when he is about to swing his sword or do another attack and he’ll never be able to hit you. The Whirlwind Combat art is very quick and will hit him twice. After you encountered him for the first time he will always spot you when entering the area, but there is an easy workaround: instead of jumping down the hole where the friendly samurai is, jump through the 2nd hole further up ahead to do an air assassination on the boss.

Reward: Scrap Magnetite + Prayer Bead

Boss #12 – Ashina Elite – Jinsuke Saze

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower Ashina Dojo
Backtrack to the first idol in Ashina castle (the idol itself being called “Ashina Castle”), then take the path on the right and jump up the roofs. Follow the roofs to enter the tall tower in the middle of the area (the tallest building on the map, easy to see). Once inside the top of the tower, there are some samurai with blue robes. In a room on the right (top floor) there are 2-3 of them and you can grapple through a hole in the ceiling. From there you can follow the path upstairs to reach the Ashina Dojo at the top of the tower.

Strategy: This boss hits hard but has very little health and poor defense. Just spam him with the Whirlwind Combat art. It will still cause him damage even when he blocks it. Just play aggressively. Either use Firecrackers (Prosthetic Tool) to stun him or dodge towards him when he strikes . Sometimes he will still hit you when dodging, in that case dodge away to heal and repeat. Even when he starts blocking just keep spamming him with Whirlwind a few times until his health is depleted.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #13 – Genichiro Ashina

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower Ashina Dojo
This boss comes immediately after Ashina Elite – Jinsuke Saze. In the room where you fought that boss, climb through the window and up to the rooftop.

Strategy: Genichiro Achina has two phases. In the first phase he has 2 lives, his moveset stays the same. After both his lives are gone he changes into his 2nd form “Way of Tomoe” which has 1 life only. The Prosthetic Tool “Loaded Axe” is great for this fight as it does heavy posture damage. Depleting his health takes too long, try to deplete his posture instead. You need to control the fight, don’t let him toy with you. Stick close to him and just hammer him with normal hits so he can’t even use his bow. The basic tactic is to hit him 1-2 times, then he attacks but you must counter (hold to block and before his strike lands you tap to counter). Then attack him with 1-2 basic sword strikes and repeat. Sometimes he does a series of quick hits, keep blocking and counter them quickly (press as each hit lands). Just countering isn’t enough though, you also need to cause him damage so his posture doesn’t recharge so quickly anymore. If you just keep hammering with normal sword strikes you will hit him from time to this. This is because the AI still tries to launch attacks and will mess up often enough that you can land a lucky hit. It takes a while but you are blocking everything safely and landing a few small hits is better than none. Any time he tries to launch an attack (or finishes an attack chain) he is open for 1 hit. It sums up quickly. You just need to get him to about 60% health and his posture will drain super quick. At this point you can use the Loaded Axe tool to deplete his remaining posture quickly. Of course it works without tools all the same, just keep bashing him with the sword and use counters. It does less posture damage but is actually a bit safer. Pay attention on his thrust attacks. While he also has sweep attacks, he should never even get a chance to use them when you stay close and hammer him with strikes. If you feel comfortable use Mikri Counter. It’s risky but if you do it right it does massive posture damage. Block with and press just before a thrust lands (practice it at Dilapidated Temple with training buddy a few times). If you don’t want to take that risk just dodge away and take your time, do clean counters and take it one hit at a time. When both lives are depleted he will transform to a stronger version of himself and start to use thunder attacks. When he jumps up in the air for an attack, always dodge to the left. Do the same for all other thunder attacks, just dodge those. The rest of his moveset is identical in his 2nd form, repeat the counter & spam tactic until his posture breaks.

Reward: Memory: Genichiro (Strenght Upgrade), Bloodsmoke Ninjutsu

Boss #14 – Armored Warrior

Location: Senpou Temple – Shugendo
After the 2nd idol in “Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo” you will automatically reach this boss, he’s unmissable.

Strategy: The armored warrior cannot take any health damage. The only way to defeat him is to break his posture and then grab him to throw him off the balcony. He will fall down and die. The best part is that his posture does not recharge. Either dodge or block his attacks. Between his attack combos he’s unable to move and easy to hit for a few seconds. The Prosthetic Tool “Loaded Axe” comes in handy here, it does massive posture damage. A few hits with the axe and his posture is depleted. Make sure he destroyed a window or the balcony with his attacks, then grab him and throw him down.

Reward: Prayer Bead, Breath of Nature: Shadow (Skill)

Boss #15 – Long-arm Gentipede Sen’un

Location: Senpou Temple – Temple Grounds
After the 3rd idol in “Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo” you will see a path with wolves and some monks throwing bombs at you. Grapple up the temple roof and then jump down to a temple on the right side below you. Through the roof of this temple you can enter a dark chamber with this boss.

Strategy: As soon as you enter the boss chamber, take out the 3 small enemies first that are sitting on the wooden beams. Don’t fall down so the boss doesn’t notice you. After they’re dead you jump on the boss and do a stealth-takedown midair. This immediately takes away one life. Very quickly kill the one remaining enemy on the ground (2-3 strikes will kill it). Now it’s just you and the boss left. Dodging won’t do you any good in this fight. It’s all about deflecting the consecutive attacks to quickly lower it’s posture and do an execution. You just need 3 buttons for this fight: Counter (hold to block and press just before a hit lands), Jump (press when the boss shows a red attack icon, don’t press directional button, again press in midair for heavy posture damage), Attack (press after boss finishes an attack chain, indicated by his big attack). Don’t even press directional buttons. Just stand there, counter all attacks and do a double-jump when the red attack icon shows up. Land 2 hits after the boss finishes a combo. If you counter well it will deplete the boss’s posture within just two of its attack chains. The skills Ascending Carp, Descending Carp, Flowing Water are very good here as they make your deflections stronger and increase your posture.  An alternative strategy is to grapple up to the wooden beams where the boss can’t hit you, then jump down on it to land 1-2 quick hits and immediately grapple up again, repeat this process. If you’re having trouble with deflecting or your posture drains too fast then this is an easy alternative.

Reward: Yellow Gundpowder (Prosthetic Upgrade), Prayer Bead

Boss #16 – Folding Screen Monkeys

Location: Senpou Temple – Main Hall
At the Main Hall idol, interact with the altar (golden table where the golden statues are). This is only possible after having defeated Genichiro Ashina in Ashina Castle, then talked to the Divine Heir in Kuro’s Room at the top of the tower and followed the smoke signals across the tower rooftops to find Ishin (which the Divine Heir tells you about). Only then you can interact with the altar. It warps you to the boss stage.

Strategy: This is less a fight and more a stealth section. There are 4 apes that you must kill. Below they are described in the best order with strategies for each one. There are easy ways to defeat them, no need to run after them aimlessly.
Invisible Monkey: At the very start where you spawn in the boss area, take a few steps forward and then turn around and just attack the empty place where you spawned. The invisible ape spawns here, you may be able to see him topple over some vases in the area (he’s invisible of course so you’ll just see items being affected by him walking there). Just take a few steps towards the bridge at the spawn, turn around and go crazy with your sword. Alternatively, he can spawn in the left tower where the water is, where also a note is on the wall.
Green Monkey: Jump on the tree in the middle of the area, then the green ape jumps on a roof. Head in his direction but not on the roof, you’ll want to stay on the ground level. There’s a huge bell with a note hanging next to it. When the monkey is sitting on the balcony straight ahead of the bell, ring the bell and it will stun him for a few seconds. Enough time to grapple up to the balcony and execute him.
Purple Monkey: Head to the tower in the top left corner. The purple monkey is usually here but will flee on sight, that’s okay though, no way to kill him yet. First we need to turn the lights out. To do so, open the door in the top left tower which causes the wind to blow out the lights. There’s also a note on the wall next to it that explains this. Then chase the monkey around the map and follow his purple footprints until he goes back in the top left tower. Then you can jump on him from the roof above for a midair execution. An easy kill, because he can’t see you now that the lights are turned out.
Red Monkey: This is the monkey with the drum. He has only average sight and hearing. Chase him to a rooftop, then crouch (press to crouch) and try to get behind him. Sneak up to him from behind. I got this to work in various spots, for example the tallest temple at the end of the area (middle path). If he stops there you can sneak up to him from the other side for a stealth execution from behind.

Reward: Memory: Screen Monkeys, Puppeteer Ninjutsu

Boss #17 – Snake Eyes Shirahagi

Location: Ashina Depths region – Ashina Depths idol
Immediately after the Ashina Depths idol you will find this boss in the next room (the chamber with poison lakes). To get here, go to the old well where you fought the boss “Lone Shadow Longswordman” in Ashina Reservoir. Swim through the well where that boss fight happened to come to a dark chamber. Ignore the purple boss for now, it’s one of the headless meant for later. Walk until you find a woman praying at a cliffside. You must jump down the cliff and after a few seconds of free fall can press to use grapple on a cliff. Then follow the cliffs and dark tunnels on the left.

Strategy: This is basically the same as Snake Eyes Shirafuji but you need to be more careful not to attract any small enemies. The area is filled with shooters. From the Ashina Depths Idol, drop down to kill the shooter standing on a platform high up. He’s the only one with a clear line of fire to where the boss is. The rest of the enemies you can ignore, they won’t notice you. Quickly grapple on to the statue on the right and from there to the trees and the statue near the boss. The boss is standing in the top right corner of the area. When you grapple through the air he won’t be able to see you. After landing on the statue to his left, walk down and get behind him for a stealth takedown. Now he has only one life left. The other enemies won’t be alerted if you did a clean grappling sequence without falling down. If they saw you it’s a whole lot harder and you should return to the idol and repeat until you end up at the boss in total stealth. After backstabbing the boss, quickly bring down his health below 50%. The quickest way is with some combat arts or use the Firecrackers Prosthetic Tool to stun him, attack and use Firecrackers again. Once his health is below 50% his posture recovers slowly. At that point just deflect all his attacks and bash him with standard sword strikes until his posture breaks, then you can execute him.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #18 – Tokujiro the Glutton

Location: Ashina Depths – Hidden Forest
This comes shortly after the previous boss Snake Eyes Shirahagi. Tokujiro is actually on the main story path and cannot be missed (on the path to the temple where someone’s playing the flute). From the Hidden Forest idol, jump across the trees. You’ll come to a foggy area with ghost enemies. On the left side you can grapple up a tree and there you find Tokujiro and some small monkeys guarding him.

Strategy: This is the same boss as Juzou the Drunkard in Hirata Estate, just with stronger stats. First you should clear out the moneys. Then backtrack until the boss has lost sight of you. Return to the area and grapple up the tree branch on the right side above the boss. He won’t see you and this way you can get behind him. Jump down on him for an air takedown. This takes one of his lives. Now do the same as with Juzou: when the boss attacks use forward dodge, forward dodge, attack 2 times, repeat. If you get hit, dodge back a few times and use the healing gourd.

Reward: Unrefined Sake, Prayer Bead

Boss #19 – Mist Noble

Location: Ashina Depths – Hidden Forest
In the area where you fought the last boss Tokujuro, you can grapple on to a tree branch on the side of the mountain to reach a bigger tree, and from there the temple where you hear someone playing flute. There’s a hole in the temple roof that lets you drop onto the boss.

Strategy: Drop onto the boss for a stealth takedown. It’s just a small weird-looking tentacle enemy. It doesn’t attack, doesn’t block and dies in a few hits. Just cut it to pieces with standard sword strikes, not much of a boss fight this one. Defeating this monster makes the fog go away in the area and the ghost enemies will disappear.

Reward: Lump of Grave Wax (Prosthetic Upgrade item)

Boss #20 – O’rin of the Water

Location: Ashina Depths – Water Mill
Right after the Water Mill idol you will run into a Lady playing music. If you walk past her she will suddenly attack, cannot be missed as she’s on the main story path and you are forced to walk past her to advance.

Strategy: O’rin of the Water is an apparition type enemy, meaning she’s a ghost and attacking her doesn’t do much damage. To start the fight, attack her while she’s playing her instrument (unfortunately can’t do a stealth-execution on her). The best tactic is to deflect all her attack combos and when she does a sweep (red icon on screen) you double jump to deal her massive posture damage. Repeat until her posture is broken and execute her. Also strike her continuously with standard sword strikes to land a few lucky hits. Most of them she’ll block but at least it hurts her posture and doing her some health damage makes her posture recharge slower. You just need 3 buttons here: to block and deflect, to double-jump when she shows the red attack icon, for standard sword strikes. Don’t use Combat Arts and don’t dodge. The reason being that combat arts are too slow and will only get you hit. Likewise, dodging will get you hit most of the time as she does a flurry of attacks and tracks you during the dodge. It’s basically the same principle as the Genichiro Ashina boss fight. Deflect until her guard breaks, perform an execution and repeat. Play defensively, play it safe. If you need to recharge health get to the other side of the battleground since she can easily hit you at closer ranges.

Reward: Prayer Bead, Breath of Life: Shadow (Skill)

Boss #21 – Corrupted Monk

Location: Ashina Depths – Water Mill
This is immediately after our last boss, at the end of the area.

Strategy: Corrupted Monk is one of the main bosses. He does a lot of damage and has long reach, also uses a variety of chain attacks, unblockable sweeps and stabs. If you try to deflect or block all his attacks he will most likely break your posture. There’s a bit of a trick that the AI can’t deal with. Get the Combat Art called “Mortal Draw“. It does unblockable damage and staggers the enemy. It’s automatically acquired from the story after defeating the Folding Screen Monkeys boss in Senpou Temple (you should already have this when following this guide).
Now to the actual fight: Don’t bother with blocking or deflecting the boss’s attacks. Instead, bait him into attacking (by getting close to him) then dodge away (backwards). This way he can’t hit you. When he finishes his attack chain he is always vulnerable for 3 seconds or so. Quickly dodge towards him and use the Mortal Draw combat art with + . Especially after the boss does a jump attack he is vulnerable and will stagger by this move. After using the move, dodge back and repeat – wait for boss to miss an attack chain, then use Mortal Draw, dodge back, repeat.
It still takes a bit of training to learn all the Corrupted Monk’s attack patterns so you know when the right time is to strike. It’s best to do 1-2 test runs where you just block or deflect all his attacks to understand his moveset better. After certain attacks he’s vulnerable for longer (his jumps in particular so if you want to play it safe only attack after he jumped), and after certain attacks he might hit you while you’re attacking. Equip Pellets in the quick item slots so you can use those in addition to your healing gourd. By this point you should have at least 9 healing gourd charges, see Gourd Seed Locations. Also equip firecrackers, at the start of the fight you can simply throw those at him, use the combat art, throw firecrackers again and repeat.

Reward: Memory: Corrupted Monk (Attack +1), Mibu Breathing Technique (Skill)
Note: This boss does NOT unlock the “Corrupted Monk” trophy or achievement! The one you must defeat for this is the “True Corrupted Monk” in Fountainhead Palace, which is detailed further below in the guide.

Boss #22 – Snake Eyes Shirafuji

Location: Sunken Valley – Gun Fort
After the 2nd idol in Sunken Valley region (the idol itself is also called “Sunken Valley”) you need to drop down the cliff by the idol and grapple on to the trees as you’re falling down. Then you’ll run into this boss automatically on the way to the Gun Fort idol. For now, ignore him and once you reach the Gun Fort idol you can backtrack to do a stealth takedown on him.

Strategy: When you first see this boss he will face you head-on. Ignore him for now. Grapple up the tree branch left of him and advance to the Gun Fort idol. Rest at the idol to reset the enemies. Then backtrack to the boss. Rifleman will shoot after you but just jump up and down and they’ll miss most shots. Drop down to the boss and do a stealth takedown from behind to take one of his lives. Now deflect all his attacks and spam him with normal sword strikes after deflecting. Rinse and repeat. When he’s showing the red attack icon you’ll want to dodge away, as he’s about to do an unblockable grappling attack on you. If you get hit and need to heal, run to the left side of the area or even grapple up the tree branch to get out of sight. If you try to heal in front of him he’ll just shoot you. Once you brought down his health to about 70% his posture becomes much easier to break. Once broken, he can be executed in 1 hit.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #23 – Long-arm Gentipede Giraffe

Location: Sunken Valley – Gun Fort
This is right by the Gun Fort Idol, in the next room (also just after our last boss fight).

Strategy: This fight is exactly the same as Long-arm Gentipede Sen’un, except you can’t do a stealth kill this time. The boss will always see you, but is quick to kill. When it launches its furry of attacks, hold the block button and also tap before each attack lands, to deflect them. Between the attack chains try to land 1-2 hits. Within 2 attack chain deflections the boss’s posture will break and you can do an execution. When you see a red attack icon always double jump (no directional buttons). Don’t dodge in this fight, just deflect and jump when the red icon shows. Because this fight will drain your posture quickly it’s recommended to consume an Gokan’s sugar item beforehand (increases posture for a time).

Reward: Yellow Gunpowder (Prosthetic Tool Upgrade), Prayer Bead

Boss #24 – Guardian Ape

Location: Sunken Valley – Bodhisattva Valley
Right behind where you fought the Long-arm Gentipede Giraffe boss, there’s a big door. To open this door you must first get the “Gun Fort Shrine Key”, which is found in Kuro’s library, in Kuro’s Room (Ashina Castle). Kuro opens the library after you talked to him a bunch of times, followed the smoke signals across the tower roofs to find Isshin. If you have trouble with that, refer to the Ashina Castle Walkthrough. Anyway, after you opened the gate behind the Gentipede you just follow the path until you reach this idol.

Strategy: The Guardian Ape boss consists of two phases.
First Phase: First you’re fighting the Guardian Ape in his normal form. He can’t block your attacks and only has one life. However, he does some crazy damage with his grapple attacks. Avoid those at all cost. He has 2 grapples: A sweep attack that can only be dodged by jumping (red icon on screen) and a bodyslam when he comes charging at you. Avoid those at all cost. Be extremely wary when the red attack icon shows and always jump when it does (something to remember for the 2nd phase as well). The best strategy to end the first phase quickly is to stun him with Firecrackers. Then get behind him and go crazy with standard sword attacks. Don’t use any combat arts, they are too slow. After dealing a certain amount of damage (at about 75% health) he will stagger and you can keep attacking until he runs off. He does that a total of 3 times, at about 75% health, 50% health, 25% health. You can’t spawn firecrackers one after the other though. They only affect him every 20 seconds roughly. So just block his attacks and then use another firecracker to stun him. After you blocked one of his long attack chains (or he missed you), he’s wide open for some quick attacks. Remember, after he staggers just keep attacking. He can also fart poison at you or throw poisonous dung, so keep an antidote in your quick items. If you avoid his grapples this phase isn’t too bad.
Second Phase: After executing the Ape once, he will get a huge sword. He now has a completely new moveset and becomes a lot more dangerous. Memorizing his moveset is easier said than done as you have to get through the first phase again every time you die. It is therefore highly recommended you watch the above video guide to study his moveset carefully. Really get the starting animations memorized of the moves that open a chance for you to attack, cause there are only 2 moves that give you an opening. The first move is shown at 3:08 – when the ape finishes an attack chain and holds his sword high up in the air he’s about to a heavy cut from top to bottom. Deflect this attack! Don’t just block, hit the moment this heavy attack lands. It will stagger him and put you under his belly, then you can get a lot of attacks in. This is the best chance to deal him any damage. The second move is at 3:25 – when he leaps forward and does a single strike you can simply jump over him in that moment. Then land 2-3 sword attacks before blocking again. Every other move you should stay clear off, just keep your distance unless he uses one of these moves. If he ever jumps up high in the air, be prepared to jump as he comes back to the ground. He’s always gonna do an area-wide sweep attack after he jumps, which cannot be blocked (you can only jump over it). Another new move he learns is a red terror blast. If your terror gauge fills up you die instantly. Have the Pacifying Agent consumable ready in your quick items so you can cure this status effect, but most importantly quickly run off when he uses this red terror fog (hold the dodge-button / to run). The quickest option to get away is to stop locking on to the enemy and just run (don’t jump or dodge). You run faster when not locked on to the enemy. This phase is gonna take a lot of practice still, but try to memorize the moves from the video that give you a chance to attack and you’ll save yourself some trial and error.

Reward: Memory: Guardian Ape (Strength Upgrade), Slender Finger (the final Prosthetic Tool)

Boss #25 – Lone Shadow Vilehand

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower – Ashina Dojo
After killing the Corrupted Monk and Guardian Ape, backtrack to Ashina Castle through the Abandoned Dungeon. You must reach the tower roofs, on your way there you encounter Lone Shadow Vilehand in the room where previously the Ashina Elite Jinsuke Saze miniboss fight took place.

Strategy: Make sure you have the Puppeteer Ninjutsu equipped. As you enter the Dojo, you’ll want to crouch and get behind the mob on the left side (the non-boss enemy). Backstab him and press to trigger the Puppeteer skill, thus he will fight the boss for you! Now it’s you two versus the boss. Your guy will likely die within the boss’s first health bar, but at least you can get some good damage done in the meantime. After he is dead, you use the same strategy as for the Lone Shadow Longswordman miniboss – whenever Vilehand is about to attack you dodge forward with a slight degree to the left (side where he holds his sword) and then do the Whirlwind Slash Combat Art + . Rinse and repeat. Forward dodge whenever he starts an attack, do Whirlwind Dash, repeat.

Reward: Lump of Fat Wax (Prosthetic Upgrade), Prayer Bead

You’ve reached the Endgame: After this boss we’ll reach the game ending! You can find many new minibosses spawning in old areas now, or finish the ending first and continue in free roam to find them afterward. Don’t worry, you can still go everywhere after the story in free roam, chose what order (and ending) you like. On PS4 you can create a backup at this point PS4 Settings > Application Saved Data Management so you can copy back the save and try out different endings!

Boss #26 – Emma, the Gentle Blade (Shura Ending)

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower – Ashina Dojo
When reaching the tower rooftop you get to choose a game ending. Pick the first dialogue option “Obey the Iron Code, Forsake Kuro” to trigger the Shura Ending and this boss fight.

Strategy: Get the Shadowrush Combat Art for this (last skill in Shinobi Skill Tree for 6 skill points). It’s totally overpowered against the last two bosses. The tactic is simple: Get 10 meters away from the boss (where they can’t hit you) > Use Shadowrush > Jump back > Run away (hold / to run) > repeat. Always spam Shadowrush, Jump, Run 10 meters away, repeat. Emma and the follow-up boss Isshin Ashina can’t block this move. You just need to get a good feel for the distance, be far enough away that the attack will connect, but not so close that the enemy can hit you. Always hold + to charge up the attack.

Reward: Triggers the Isshin Ashina Boss Fight

Boss #27 – Isshin Ashina (Shura Ending)

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower – Ashina Dojo
Triggers immediately after defeating Emma in the Shura Ending (see previous boss above).

Strategy: Exact same strategy as Emma. Get the Shadowrush Combat Art for this (last skill in Shinobi Skill Tree for 6 skill points). The tactic is simple: Get 10 meters away from the boss (where they can’t hit you) > Use Shadowrush > Jump back > Run away (hold / to run) > repeat. Always spam Shadowrush, Jump, Run 10 meters away, repeat. Emma and the follow-up boss Isshin Ashina can’t block this move. You just need to get a good feel for the distance, be far enough away that the attack will connect, but not so close that the enemy can hit you. Always hold + to charge up the attack. In the 2nd phase, Isshin will start to use fire moves. When he shoots fire in a straight line, just run to the side (hold / to run), this way it will always miss. When he sprays a wide but short fire in front of him, stay just behind the fire and charge up your Shadowrush to him once. His most devastating move is when he summons flames all over the area. Stand in a spot where there are no flames on the floor. Then immediately jump in his direction. That’s because he will always come rushing your way with an attack chain that would instant-kill you. By jumping above him you will easily dodge it and can attack him a few times from behind with standard strikes. Try not to spend too many healing gourd uses on Emma. Also, for Isshin keep some Pellets equipped for extra healing and Ako’s Sugar to boost your attack damage, thus you need to land fewer Shadowrush attacks to end the fight.

Reward: Memory: Isshin Ashina (Attack Upgrade), One Mind Skill (Combat Art), Shura Ending

Boss #28 – Great Shinobi Owl

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower – Ashina Dojo
When reaching the tower rooftop you get to choose a game ending. Pick the 2nd dialogue option “Break the iron code, stay loyal to Kuro” to trigger this boss fight. This will lead you to the “full ending” where you get to another area after this fight.

Strategy: Great Shinobi Owl does some heavy attacks that leave him vulnerable for a few seconds if you dodge them perfectly. When he attacks with the sword from left you dodge forward left. When he attacks with the sword from the right, you dodge forward right. Always dodge under his sword to get behind him, then do a Whirlwind Slash Combat Art & repeat. When he jumps high up in the air, dodge forward twice to get behind him, then you can deal some good damage. Firecrackers are great for when you get wounded so you can stun him and heal yourself in the meantime. Always stay close to him, don’t run away. He will always run after you very fast if you try to get away. Always stick close to him and whenever he launches an attack you dodge under it, do Whirlwind Slash, repeat. It takes a few tries to get the timing down and memorize his moves. In the 2nd phase he will throw poison and smoke. When he’s about to use smoke keep hitting him, he’s totally vulnerable while he does that. When he poisons an area stay away and block his attacks until the poison has cleared, with the poison gone you can use the full space of the area again. The general dodge & attack pattern still applies in the 2nd phase.

Reward: Memory: Great Shinobi (Attack Upgrade), Aromatic Branch

Boss #29 – True Corrupted Monk

Location: Fountainhead Palace
After having chosen to stay loyal to Kuro in the end and having defeated Great Shinobi Owl, you must talk to Kuro in his room a bunch of times. Keep talking to him repeatedly until all dialogues are exhausted. Then head back to the Ashina Depths – Wedding Cave Door idol. In the cave where you picked up a story item you can go in a tent to be transported to the Fountainhead Palace. The first enemy there is the True Corrupted Monk. This one rewards you with a trophy.

Strategy: This “true” version of the Corrupted Monk has 3 lives. Luckily, we can take his first two lives quickly with stealth kills from the trees above. When you enter the boss area, grapple to the tree branch on the right, a 2nd one on the right, and the 3rd branch behind the boss. If you’re quick enough he won’t notice and you can drop down on him for a stealth kill. Then immediately jump back on the trees and when he enters his 2nd phase, do another stealth kill on him from the middle tree branch (the boss will turn invisible but stands in the middle of the bridge, that’s where you can drop on him, but you need to be very quick). Then he has just 1 life left. Throw firecrackers, attack him with normal sword strikes from behind, throw next firecracker and repeat. Also consume an Ako’s Sugar for increased attack power and Ungo’s Sugar for taking less damage. 8 uses of firecrackers should be enough to take his last life. Alternatively, you can just let him miss his spinning attacks by running away from him, then run to him to hit him once, and repeat. The Mortal Blade Combat Art also works well when baiting him like this, as it deals unblockable damage.

Reward: Memory: True Monk (Attack Upgrade), Dragon’s Tally Board (Unlocks New Items in Merchant Shops), “Corrupted Monk” trophy / achievement.

Boss #30 – Great Serpent

Location: Senpou Temple Mt. Kongo area, Senpou Temple Mt. Kongo idol
This is only possible after having unlocked the “Puppeteer” Ninjutsu by defeating the Folding Screen Monkeys boss at the end of Senpou Temple Mt. Kongo region. You must also have advanced through the Sunken Valley region to make the Great Serpent available to kill. What you must do is head to the Senpou Mt. Kongo idol (the 1st one in that region). From there drop down the cliff to the right and you’ll see a single enemy standing by a lever with a kite attached. Backstab this enemy and use the Puppeteer skill on him. He’ll then use the lever to move the kite and hold it in place. Then you go through the monk forest, through the prayer room, and to the next area where a large tree is on the right side. From that tree you can grapple the kite and fly to the other area. Then drop down the platforms and grapple tree branches as you fall, until you come to the Sunken Valley Cavern idol. From there you reach a dead-end where where you can balance on a wooden beam and the snake will be below you, but only if you have advanced through the Sunken Valley region already.

Strategy: When you’ve followed the above path, just drop down on the Great Serpent’s head to execute it. There’s no actual fight here, it dies instantly. It was just tricky to find, but is an unspectacular instant kill.

Reward: Fresh Serpent Viscera (key item), Great Serpent trophy / achievement.

Boss #31 – Guardian Ape Undying

Location: Ashina Depths – Poison Pool
After defeating the Guardian Ape in Sunken Valley, the 2nd version of the Guardian Ape spawns in Ashina Depths in the arena between the Poison Pool idol and the Hidden Forest idol.

Strategy: You’re fighting the same boss as the Guardian Ape’s second phase but this time he’s a lot slower. He has two health bars but they deplete much quicker because you now have more attack power from killing all other main bosses. The strategy is a bit different from before. Since he is now very slow and doesn’t attack as much, just block one of his consecutive attacks, then bash him with normal sword hits. At the start of the fight you can already get some good hits in while he’s turning around to you. After his first health bar is gone, he runs off to the side to call another ape to his aid. Already attack while he’s calling the 2nd ape. Luckily, the one he calls is very weak and dies fast. Simply throw a bunch of firecrackers at the 2nd ape to break its posture quickly and go for an instant execution. Then it’s back to the headless ape and it’s the same tactic as before. Block all attacks and then attack. When it uses the red mist run away (hold / to run). After the undying ape is defeated, execute it one more time to rip out his spine, this time he won’t come back and you earn a trophy as well as the final Ninjutsu.

Reward: 2 x Prayer Beads, Bestowal Ninjutsu, Guardian Ape Immortality Severed trophy / achievement.

Boss #32 – Sakura Bull of the Palace

Location: Fountainhead Palace – Flower Viewing Stage
See Boss “True Corrupted Monk” how to get to Fountainhead Palace. As you advance in the area you come by the Flower Viewing Stage idol automatically (after passing through a courtyard with squid-like flute enemies). From this idol you can find the bull behind the Mibu Manor (behind the building complex where you encounter the flute-playing squids).

Strategy: It’s the same as Blazing Bull, this boss just has a different color (purple). The moveset and strategy are the same. Because you have more attack pwoer now, this boss will actually be a lot easier than Blazing Bull. Dodge behind it when it stands still to land attacks. Dodge it when it charges at you or run sideways to let it miss, then attack.

Reward: Prayer Bead, A Beast’s Karma Latent Skill (carry more spirit emblems)

Boss #33 – Okami Leader Shizu

Location: Fountainhead Palace – Great Sakura
From the Great Sakura idol, this boss is on the next tree ahead. It can’t be missed, you have to kill this lightning-throwing miniboss to swim in the lake safely, which is mandatory to advance the story.

Strategy: From the idol quickly grapple to the tree and use the grappling points on the right of the tree to evade the boss’s electric attack. He’s completely defenseless when you reach him, just bash him with your sword and the fight is over.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #34 – Great Colored Carp

Location: Fountainhead Palace
Found at the Feeding Grounds idol. See the steps detailed below.

Strategy: This is a secret boss that has multiple steps to it. You won’t actually fight the great colored carp but poison it with some trickery which kills it instantly.
Step 1: Activate the Feeding Grounds idol, talk to the NPC there and ring the bell to call the Great Colored Carp. To reach the Feeding Grounds, we’ll start at the Palace Grounds idol. You’ll pass by it on the normal story path, it’s unmissable. Just play through the region until you reach the Palace Grounds. From there, take a right turn in the next building (squid enemies inside). Behind the building you can grapple to the roof and from there to a tree branch, a temple roof, and ultimately the Feeding Grounds. Talk to the blue fish-like NPC and ring the bell so the Great Colored Carp appears.
Step 2: From Feeding Grounds idol teleport to Hirata Estate and talk to the Scale Merchant there (found in the lake at the start of Hirata Estate). Buy any items from him that amount to 7 treasure carp scales total. For example, buy the mask fragment that costs 7 scales or mix up the other items to spend 7 scales.
Step 3: After spending 7 scales you unlock the option to “Talk” to him. Talk to him twice, exhaust his dialogues and he gives you the “Truly Precious Bait”.
Step 4: Head back to the Feeding Ground, feed the carp the “Truly Precious Bait”. This will poison it.
Step 5: Fast Travel to Sunken Valley – Guardian Ape’s Watering Hole. The Great Colored Carp will have stranded there, all you find is its deceased body with a glowing item pickup before its mouth. Pick this up to unlock the Great Colored Carp trophy / achievement. That’s the entire “boss fight”, you just poisoned the fish and it died. Bring the item you found back to the scale merchant so he can become a carp himself, yay.

Reward: Great White Whisker, Great Colored Carp trophy / achievement.

Boss #35 – Shichimen Warrior (Abandoned Dungeon)

Location: Abandoned Dungeon – Bottomless Hole
Where you fought the Lone Shadow Longswordman in Ashina Castle, you can swim through the well to reach Bottomless Hole. There next to the idol in a dark arena is this boss.

Strategy: To defeat this enemy you must consume a Divine Confetti to damage it and a Pacifying Agent to protect yourself against its Terror Attacks (which otherwise instant-kill you). By this point you will have a lot of attack power and can make quick work of him. Be sure to evade his Terror attacks, when your terror gauge is full you die instantly. After the boss teleports away he likes to use a massive beam that he uses for a few seconds. Run sideways until he stops this beam attack, then go at him with standard sword strikes and repeat. Refresh your Divine Confetti and Pacifying Agent when it runs out.

Reward: Ceremonial Tanto (converts vitality into spirit emblems)

Boss #36 – Chained Ogre (Ashina Castle)

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower Antechamber
From the Antechamber, drop down the inside of the tower and you find the Chained Ogre at the bottom. You can easily here his screams from afar. Only there in the endgame.

Strategy: Exact same boss as the Chained Ogre in Ashina Outskirts. Use Forward Dodge, Forward Dodge, Attack, Repeat. You can also glitch him in the door. On the side of the room is a small door he can’t pass through but he’ll get stuck in front of it and just walk in one place. Power up swords stabs with to stab him through the door and repeat to kill him without any risk.

Reward: Prayer Bead, Shinobi Medicine Rank 3 Latent Skill (more healing per gourd use)

Boss #37 – Lone Shadow Masanaga the Spear-Bearer

Location: Ashina Castle – Great Serpent Shrine
From the Old Grave walk over to the Great Serpent Shrine idol, there you find the boss. Only there in the endgame.

Strategy: Kill the 3 wolves before the boss. Then crouch and stealthily walk around the left of the Shrine where the boss is. When you’re behind him do a backstab. The rest of the fight is the same as any other Lone Shadow boss. When he attacks, forward dodge around his left side, use Whirlwind Slash Combat Art, repeat. Always forward dodge when he attacks. The Whirlwind Combat Art will hit him easily after he missed his attack.

Reward: Yellow Gunpowder (Prosthetic Upgrade Material), Prayer Bead

Boss #38 – Headless (Ashina Outskirts)

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Stairway
We’re gonna do some backtracking now to finish up old bosses that were too hard previously. Where you fought General Tenzen, head to the right and jump on a tree branch by the cliffside, then jump down towards a cliff below that you can hang on to. From there you can jump over to a dark cave, inside it you find the Headless.

Strategy: To defeat the first headless boss you must consume a Divine Confetti to damage it and a Pacifying Agent to protect yourself against its Terror Attacks (which otherwise instant-kill you). By this point in the game (end of story), he’s quite easy as you deal a ton of damage. You are slowed by his mist, just attack with normal sword strikes and walk around him to the left (do NOT lock on to him). It takes a bit of luck still but he might miss you when doing this or not attack much at all. You can also try to lure him to the little cliff at the top of the area, then stand below the cliff and use normal sword strikes to hit him, but he won’t be able to hit you nor can he drop down. It takes a bit of trying around to find a sweet spot where he can get stuck but where you are still able to hit him, without being hit yourself. Really though, if you waited this long you should have enough attack power and health items to just bash him with sword strikes, heal, repeat. When he attacks block it (still causes you damage but not as much). Don’t forget to refresh Divine Confetti and Pacifying Agent when the effects run out. The same strategy will apply to future Headless bosses, there are multiple of the Headless.

Reward: Ako’s Spiritfall (infinite consumable that uses spirit emblems to buff your attack power for a time)

Boss #39 – Underwater Headless (Ashina Castle)

Location: Ashina Castle – Old Grave
This headless is found underwater in the pond after Old Grave idol. Requires diving perk that you get by defeating Corrupted Monk main boss in Ashina Depths (unmissable).

Strategy: Consume a Divine Confetti (lets you damage the headless) and a Pacifying Agent (protects you from its terror damage). Dive down and just hit it with your sword. This enemy doesn’t have many attacks and is luckily rather slow. When it powers up an attack, dodge away, then get behind it to land a few hits.

Reward: Ungo’s Spiritfall (an infinite consumable that that allows you to temporarily take less damage in exchange for spirit emblems. Can be used repeatedly but costs spirit emblems to use)

Boss #40 – Headless (Ashina Depths)

Location: Ashina Depths – Hidden Forest
From the Hidden Forest idol, jump down and you’ll find this headless under the trees.

Strategy: To beat the headless consume a Divine Confetti (lets you damage the headless) and a Pacifying Agent (protects you from its terror damage). Always walk around the boss to the left but do NOT lock on to it. It’s a lot easier to get to the side / behind the enemy when you don’t lock on and increases the odds that it will miss you with its attacks. Still, when it attacks block it. You take unblockable damage but way less than if you hadn’t blocked. When your terror gauge builds up too much, use a pacifying agent. Other than that just walk around the enemy while hitting it, block, repeat, use pacifying agent (and refresh Divine Confetti when it runs out).

Reward: Gachiin’s Spiritfall (an infinite consumable to suppress sound from walking and be harder to detect. Costs spirit emblems to use).

Boss #41 – Headless (Sunken Valley)

Location: Sunken Valley – Under-Shrine Valley
From the Under-Shrine Valley idol. turn around and walk uphill slightly. Then you can jump across an abyss to a tree branch. There on a platform you encounter 2 riflemen. Kill them, then walljump up to their left. Lean against the cliffside to walk over to a hidden area. There you find a small pool of water that you can dive in (requires diving perk from killing Corrupted Monk boss). After diving through that pool you come to a dark room with the Headless boss of this region.

Strategy: To beat the headless consume a Divine Confetti (lets you damage the headless) and a Pacifying Agent (protects you from its terror damage). Always walk around the boss to the left but do NOT lock on to it. It’s a lot easier to get to the side / behind the enemy when you don’t lock on and increases the odds that it will miss you with its attacks. Still, when it attacks block it. You take unblockable damage but way less than if you hadn’t blocked. When your terror gauge builds up too much, use a pacifying agent. Other than that just walk around the enemy while hitting it, block, repeat, use pacifying agent (and refresh Divine Confetti when it runs out).

Reward: Gokan’s Spiritfall (an infinite consumable that temporarily reduces posture damage taken. Costs spirit emblems to use.)

Boss #42 – Underwater Headless (Fountainhead Palace)

Location: Fountainhead Palace – Great Sakura
In the big lake of Fountainhead Palace you find this headless deep under water.

Strategy: This time the underwater headless has a weaker clone (which is purple). This can be ignored though. He hurls some attacks at you from far away but they can easily be dodge and killing just the main headless (the non-purple one) will also make the clone go away. Consume a Divine Confetti (lets you damage the headless) and a Pacifying Agent (protects you from its terror damage). Dive down and just hit it with your sword. This enemy doesn’t have many attacks and is luckily rather slow. When it powers up an attack, dodge away, then get behind it to land a few hits.

Reward: Yashariku’s Spiritfall (an infinite consumable that lets you temporarily sacrifice vitality and posture in exchange for more attack power. Takes spirit emblems to use)

Boss #43 – Shichimen Warrior (Fountainhead Palace)

Location: Fountainhead Palace – Flower Viewing Stage
On the way from the Flower Viewing Stage idol to the Great Sakura idol you will find this boss under a bridge you have to cross over.

Strategy: It’s the same boss as the Shichimen Warrior in Abandoned Dungeon, just in a different place and with more health. You must consume “Divine Confetti” to damage it and “Pacifying Agent” to protect yourself from its Terror attacks. Start by attacking from behind (can jump down on it from a cliff, but can’t do stealth takedown). Hit the boss a few times until it teleports away. Then immediately run down the river, it will spawn at the end of the river. Hit if a few more times, when it disappears run to where it first was upriver. It will always teleport away from you downriver and upriver, always in the same places. Hold / to run so you can reach it by the time it appears again. Very quickly attack it before it shoots you with the purple laser beam. If you’re quick enough it will miss the attack. Also don’t lock on to this enemy, it’s actually easier in free combat without locking on as you can better walk around it while attacking, thus getting behind the enemy more easily.

Reward: Lapis Lazuli (highest grade upgrade material)

Boss #44 – Divine Dragon

Location: Fountainhead Palace – Palace Grounds
From the Palace Grounds idol, head inside the next building and take a right turn to exit the building. From there you can grapple up some tree branches and follow stairs until you reach a woman you can talk to, thus triggering the Divine Dragon boss.

Strategy: This is a very easy fight. First you just need to defeat all white enemies. They only use poison which is easily dodged and doesn’t do much damage. They’re easy to kill. When the tree branches come from the floor, grapple up to them and jump on the white enemies to kill multiple at once. After they’re all dead, the Divine Dragon spawns. Just run sideways to get past its attacks and jump when you see the red attack warning sign. On one of the platforms will be lighting. You need to grapple to the lightning platform when the boss isn’t attacking, this gives you a lightning strike to throw at the boss. Don’t throw it when he moves as you might miss him. Rinse and repeat – run sideways to evade all attacks, get to next lightning spark, throw it at boss, repeat. When throwing the last lightning strike (after the platforms with the sparks went away for a while), don’t throw it right away, rather wait until the dragon’s head is in front of you as you fall and then release the lightning.

Reward: Memory: Divine Dragon (+1 Attack Power), Divine Dragon’s Tears

Boss #45 – Seven Ashina Spears – Shume Masaji Oniwa

Location: Ashina Castle – Ashina Reservoir (spawns only after defeating Divine Dragon in Fountainhead Palace)
Found at the Ashina Reservoir Idol. Stands right in front of the idol.

Strategy: There’s a normal mob and the boss standing close together. Use “Gachiin’s Sugar” to be harder to detect, then you can easily sneak up to the mob. Backstab it and use the Puppeteer Ninjutsu so he fights the boss for you. While he aggros the boss, you land some hits from behind. After the boss’s first health bar is gone, the mob will die. Now it’s time for firecrackers and Fistful of Ash. Use Firecrackers (Prosthetic Tool) to stun him, attack with the Combat Art “Ichimonji: Double”, repeat. Always throw firecrackers to stun and use that combat art. This particular combat art breaks his guard very fast – rather than trying to deplete his health just break his guard for an execution. If you run out of firecrackers use Fistful of Ash (a consumable item that can be put in the quick item slots). Of course heal yourself if you get hit, the more damage the boss has taken the slower his posture recharges.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #46 – Shigekichi of the Red Guard

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Stairway (spawns only after defeating Divine Dragon in Fountainhead Palace)
Since the Ashina Outskirts idols are now locked you must get back there from the Old Grave idol in Ashina Castle. Drop to the bottom after Old Grave idol and a bridge will now be lowered that leads back to Ashina Outskirts where you fought the General Tenzen miniboss.

Strategy: It’s the same thing as the Juzou fight in Hirata Estate, and there are lots of other enemies guarding him once again. However, instead of facing him head-on advance to the idol “Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Stairway”. Kill the mobs around the idol so they can’t alert the boss. You don’t need to clear out all guards in the fort where the boss is, just the drummer on the roof and the guy patrolling the area. Backtrack to the idol os the boss loses sight of you. Then sneak up to the boss from behind for a backstab, which takes one of his lives. Then just forward-dodge left whenever he’s about to attack, hit 2-3 times, repeat. He will miss you ever time when you forward-dodge just as he starts the attack animation. You can also use Puppeteer Ninjutsu on a nearby enemy so he joins the fight and helps to kill the boss.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #47 – Ashina Elite – Ujinari Mizuo

Location: Ashina Castle – Upper Tower – Ashina Dojo (spawns only after defeating Divine Dragon in Fountainhead Palace)
From the Dojo idol, walk downstairs and turn around. To the side of the stairs is a paper-wall you can cut through. Then you find a secret passage leading to this boss.

Strategy: You can stealth this boss if you lure him away far enough, let him lose sight of you, then go back to stealth him.  It’s basically the same as the Ashina Elite in the Dojo earlier in the game but he has red glowing eyes and is a bit more aggressive (attacks more often and faster). The Shadowrush Combat Art is very overpowered against him as he can’t block it (last skill in Shinobi Arts). Keep your distance (just far enough that the boss won’t attack), use Shadowrush, as he’s about to attack dodge forward-left to evade his attack, then build some distance and repeat. Shadowrush, left forward-dodge, run away, repeat. Do the dodge as soon as his attack animation starts to evade it. While you still have spirit emblems you can also jump back after your attack, but after spirit emblems are depleted the dodge is the safest method.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #48 – Shichimen Warrior (Ashina Depths)

Location: Ashina Depths – Poison Pool
Found in the room between Poison Pool idol and Hidden Forest idol where you fought the two guardian apes. ONLY spawns after you defeated the two guardian apes in that same room.

Strategy: Consume Divine Confetti to damage the boss and Pacifying Agent to protect yourself from Terror damage. Hit it until it teleports away. Then quickly run up to the boss before it fires its laser beam or if you can’t reach him in time run sideways to evade the beam. Refresh Confetti and Pacifying Agent when it runs out.

Reward: Malcontent’s Ring (Prosthetic Upgrade Material needed for Malcontent whistle).

Boss #49 – Demon of Hatred

Location: Ashina Outskirts – Outskirts Wall Gate Path
Only spawns after you defeated the Divine Dragon in Fountainhead Palace. From Old Grave idol in Ashina Castle take the stairs leading down until the bottom. There a new bridge has appeared that leads you back to Ashina Outskirts where you fought the first Ogre. Then backtrack in the direction of Dilapidated Temple, to the Outskirts Wall Gate Path idol. It will be blocked by burning rubble but you can pray at a new idol just at the burning gates and it will teleport you to the Demon of Hatred Boss.

Strategy: This is one of the toughest bosses in the game, it has 3 health bars and will kill you in 2 hits. It will take quite some practice to learn its moveset perfectly. The most important thing is that you stay aggressive at all times and ALWAYS stay close to the enemy. Never run away from it. Always stick to it like glue. The reason being that this boss does huge AOE attacks across long ranges and if you even just try to heal yourself for a second it will bombard you with some crazy fire attacks. If you stay close to it, you will deal it a lot more damage quickly and don’t need to worry about its ranged attacks. The boss has 3 phases and learns some new long-range AOE attacks in each phase but if you stay close it won’t change much.
The trick is to RUN (hold / to run) to run TOWARDS the enemy until you are in striking range. Then always RUN TO THE RIGHT SIDE. KEEP RUNNING while the enemy does an attack animation. It will swing its fire melee attack around but if you are really close to it and just run to the right it will always miss you. AFTER it finished one of its attacks (you’ll see it takes a 2-3 second break after end of attack) you land 2-3 hits. This is an endurance battle because you only have 10 heals + 3 pellets and the boss has a ton of health with 3 health bars. Your first priority is always not to get hit. While you practice the boss hit only TWICE FROM BEHIND after the boss missed its attack. Then let it jump away, RUN TOWARDS ITS RIGHT SIDE. Then RUN AROUND IT TO THE RIGHT until it finished its attack. Then you do 2 hits and let it jump away again. Repeat this over and over. You don’t want to hit too many times as you can’t dodge / jump / run while attacking and the boss can easily hit you in that time. Don’t overdo it, don’t be greedy with the damage dealing. Just land 2-3 safe hits so you can be ready to evade surprise attacks. NEVER DODGE! ALWAYS HOLD THE SPRINT BUTTON, NEVER LET GO OF IT! Also make sure you’re locked on to the boss at all times to make this a lot easier. In the third phase use the Malcontent Whistle (prosthetic tool, it’s the upgraded whistle), it lets you stun the boss up to 3 times in a row to take 60% of its health bar!
Boss Move #1 – Jump Blast: When the Demon of Hatred jumps high up in the air it will blast everything within a big radius. You can tell that it’s about to jump when it starts burning all over its body. When you see this sprint away immediately! After the boss lands (you out of its impact radius) grapple it with L2 / LT to get close (requires Grappling Hook Attack skill).
Boss Move #2 – Sprint Attack: When the Demon of Hatred sprints towards you (red attack warning on screen) you must JUMP TO THE SIDE. Since you’ll constantly be holding the sprint button this should help your reaction time, just remember to Jump when you see the red warning sign. This attack in particular can screw you over easily if you attack for too long. The boss likes to suddenly use this move if you do more than 3 attacks at a time.
Boss Move #3 – All Melee Attacks: Every melee attack is easily dodged by sticking close to the boss and running to the right. It will miss all its attacks. Especially for its fire arm spin you want to stay super close as it will strike over your head and miss you completely. The only ones where you want to keep a little bit of distance are the stomp attacks.
Boss Move #4 – Fireballs (1st phase): In the 1st phase it will use fireballs after sprint attacks / whenever you’re far away. When it does this RUN TOWARDS THE BOSS. This way you will run under the fireballs and they will fly over you, and you can quickly get behind the boss to land some hits. If you stay far away it will just hit you and you can’t attack an enemy from 50 meters away.
Boss Move #5 – Fire Floor (2nd phase): In the 2nd phase the boss learns to cast a long line of fire on the floor. Just run to the side and jump when it does this. It always does this after a sprint attack.
Boss Move #6 – Ring of Fire (3rd phase): In the 3rd phase it casts a big fire circle. It will try to trap you. Doesn’t matter either way, since you’re just running in circle around the boss anyway. Ideally you’ll want to stay out of the ring of fire but if you get trapped don’t panic, just stick to the basic method: run towards boss, then run around him to the right until fire clears.

Reward: Memory: Hatred Demon (Attack Power Up), 2 x Lapis Lazuli (highest-grade upgrade material)

Boss #50 – Lone Shadow Masanaga Spear-Bearer (Purification Ending Only)

Location: Hirata Estate – Bamboo Thicket Slope
Only available in the alternative version of Hirata Estate when you go for the Purification Ending. This boss will be at the end of Bamboo Thicket Slope where originally you got the key from the dying Shinobi Owl. See Sekiro Endings Guide.

Strategy: There’s an easy trick to break the AI in this fight. Start by clearing out the mobs leading up to the boss (shield & hammer guys on bridge, archers at s tart of bridge). Then let the boss spot you and quickly run towards the bridge. The boss will always get stuck on the stairs. As any boss in the game, he is restrained to a specific area and can’t leave it. As soon as he hits the point where he stops to follow you, get behind him and bash him with sword strikes to push him down the stairs and towards the bridge. What happens is that the boss is now outside it’s designated area and the AI breaks down and stops attacking you. You can just hammer him with sword strikes to break his guard as you push him across the bridge. He will never attack. It doesn’t matter if he calls for his wolves, they won’t even come to you when you’re by the bridge. This is the easiest exploit to finish this fight without any work. If you want to face him head-on it’s a lot more tricky as you need to try not to let him call his wolves. So if you do it legit, stick close to him and always attack when he calls his wolves.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #51 – Juzou the Drunkard 2nd Version (Purification Ending Only)

Location: Hirata Estate – Main Hall
Only available in the alternative version of Hirata Estate when you go for the Purification Ending. Found in the same place as original Juzou (Boss #6). See Sekiro Endings Guide.

Strategy: It’s basically the same as Juzou during your first visit to Hirata Estate. He even stands in the same place and looks exactly the same, has the same moveset etc. The only thing that changed are the mobs around him. He’s also guarded by a poison-blade ninja now. First, take out the mobs in the building to the left of the boss and the weaker enemies where the boss is. Don’t bother with the poison-blade ninja or Juzou yet. After clearing out everyone else, backtrack to the nearest idol. Wait just a little moment until the boss’s health bar disappears from the top left. Juzou and his Ninja friend will now walk back to where they were standing. Follow them (crouched) and stealth-takedown the ninja as they’re walking back. Use Puppeteer Ninjutsu to turn the Ninja friendly so he fights Juzou for you now! This way the Ninja takes most of Juzou’s first health bar while you lean back and enjoy the show. When it’s just Juzou left you use forward-dodge to the left whenever he strikes, attack 2-3 times from behind, repeat. The tricky part is just to clear out the other mobs first and get the timing right to do a stealth takedown on the Ninja, you don’t want to fight both of them at the same time.

Reward: Prayer Bead

Boss #52 – Owl Father – Great Shinobi Owl at Hirata Estate (Purification Ending Only)

Location: Hirata Estate – Hirata Audience Chamber
Only available in the alternative version of Hirata Estate when you go for the Purification Ending. Found in the same room where you fought Lady Butterfly. See Sekiro Endings Guide.

Strategy: First of all, you should have done all other bosses before fighting Owl Father (defeated Divine Dragon, Demon of Hatred etc. to increase attack power and all minibosses to max out Vitality and Posture). If you don’t have maximum Posture yet (40 Prayer Beads found) then this will be more troublesome. The key to win this fight is to do clean blocks until Owl Father uses a heavy attack, which you will dodge, thus leaving him wide open for attacks. You will constantly hammer him with sword strikes and stick to him like glue, to reduce his posture. You’ll also land some lucky hits by doing this. Attack until he deflects (orange flash on swords), then he’s about to attack and you deflect his attacks. Then you attack again and repeat this cycle until he uses a slow and heavy attack. Basically two attacks are slow and leave him wide open: his jump attack, and after he does a floor sweep (red warning sign) he likes to do an Ichomoji combat art. Try to push him into a corner with your sword strikes. Owl will try to jump back but is blocked by the wall, he’ll try anyway and you get a free hit or two because he lowers his guard. If you just do clean counters and keep attacking you’ll land lots of lucky hits along the way because his blocking isn’t very good sometimes. When you see him toss black powder in the air dodge TOWARDS his right side, not away. The black powder means firecrackers are about to go off. If you try to dodge back they will still hit you most times. When you dodge forward they will miss you and you get behind Owl to land 1-2 quick hits. In the second phase (after his first health bar is gone), he’ll summon his owl spirit animal. It doesn’t change much though. He learns two new moves: to teleport (blue flash – just run away when he does it) and a fire owl. The fire owl is easily dodged by jumping up in the air when it comes flying towards you. Other than that his moveset stays the same. It’s recommended to consume “Ungo’s Sugar” (blue) to reduce damage taken. If you need to heal or rebuff, wait for him to miss an attack and stand behind a pillar so he can’t hit you right away. Also keep firecrackers for his 2nd phase. Each firecracker lets you land 1-2 hits on him which speeds up the second phase quite a bit.

Reward: Memory: Foster Father (Attack Up), Aromatic Flower (Key Item needed for Purification Ending)

Boss #53 – Isshin, the Sword Saint (Endboss)

Location: Ashina Castle – Ashina Reservoir
Isshin the Sword Saint will be the endboss if you didn’t pick the Shura Ending. On all other 3 endings you’ll encounter Isshin the Sword Saint as the final boss. Go to Ashina Reservoir and backtrack to where you fought Genichiro Ashina in the prologue (start of game on the big field). There you meet the endboss.

Strategy: There are 4 Phases to this boss. We’ll go through it phase by phase. Recommended items for this fight: 10 x Healing Gourd, 3 x Pellet, 1 x Divine Grass.
Phase 1: In the first phase you fight Genichiro in Tomoe form. He’s super quick to kill. First run behind him and attack from behind while he does his mortal blade move. Then just hammer him with sword attacks to break his guard quickly. When he deflects your attack (orange flash) counter his attacks. After you countered it, attack again until he deflects and repeat. When he jumps, dodge forward-right and keep attacking. If you see a red warning sign he either does a stab or sweep, either way you can just jump up + left to dodge it (if you feel comfortable with Mikiri counter you can use that on stabs to break his guard fast). Just remember to always keep attacking until he either jumps or you see him deflect (orange flash) and only jump away for red-warning attacks. Otherwise you just attack and his posture will be gone in no time.
Phase 2: Now you get to fight Isshin and he uses a sword only. You’ll want to break his posture quickly. Always attack twice, then deflect his attacks, repeat. He always deflects after you land 2 attacks. Then he either does 3-5 sword strikes (when he strikes up that’s always the end of his strikes so watch out for that). If he sheathes his sword he’s about to do a sweep. Just run away and to the left to get out of reach and then quickly get behind him. If he pushes you away he’s about to do a stab, use Mikiri counter when he does that to break his posture faster. The hardest part here is to differentiate between his sweep and stab. Remember this: he sheathes sword then he does a sweep and you run away. If he doesn’t sheathe the sword he does a stab and you use Mikiri counter. Try to break his posture rather than depleting his health. Stick close to him but heal yourself when necessary. An alternative tactic for this phase is to use Shadowrush Combat Art (final one in Shinobi Skill Tree). This takes less skill but he will occasionally hit you after you land the attack.
Phase 3: Phase 3 + 4 use the same tactic. Run to the right AT ALL TIMES (hold / ). Whenever Isshin the Sword Saint jumps you run TOWARDS HIM (RIGHT SIDE) to get behind him. Hold / to do ONE stab from behind. Then QUICKLY run away again and repeat. You ONLY attack when he does a huge jump and only hit one time. No more than that or he will bombard you with a long combo. Also make sure you use a stab as it does more damage. When you run away he’ll use only two ranged moves: he either shoots at you or he jumps. By constantly running he will miss all shots. Usually he shoots one time, next time he jumps, then he shoots again, then he jumps again. You need to be far enough away from him so he uses these moves. Don’t block anything, just run in big circles and exploit this one single Jump-move that leaves him open for an easy hit.
Phase 4: Same as phase 3. Run in big circles and only attack with a stab from behind after he jumps. Don’t bother fighting him at close range, just exploit his jump attack that leaves him open for a quick hit.

Reward: Memory: Saint Isshin (Attack Up), Dragon Flash (Skill Combat Art)