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Important Reading!¶

There’s no two ways about it, Sekiro is a tough game indeed. Whether your a seasoned pro of From Software’s Dark Souls series and Bloodborne (from which Sekiro shares many similarities) to newcomers, you’ll have a tough time with Sekrio, especially as you come to grips with the mechanics. Perserve through the game’s punishing difficulty however and you’ll be rewarded with an incredibly indepth combat system and one of the most beautiful worlds created in a game. Below you’ll find some tips that will help you out throughout your entire journey in the Ashina territories.

• Prepare to die, a lot!
  As mentioned above, Sekiro is very difficult and you will die a lot, at times on the same enemy. Don’t be too disheartened however, every death provides a look into how you died and your foe’s attacks.

• Always aim for Deathblows!
  As you work your way through the difficult areas in Ashina territories, stay crouched and always aim for a Deathblow from behind or above. This will keep you in good health (especially with a useful skill) and prevent unnecessary battles which may waste resources.

• Use the right tool for the job!
  Your Prosethic Tools are a huge part of your skillset and using the right one for the right enemy will cut down the difficulty. For example, the Shruiken is useful for taking down Archers and Dogs while the Axe is the tool for taking down Shields.

• Don’t be afraid to flee!
  Due to the Wolf’s ability to get around with ease, don’t be afraid to bail on a battle that’s going south. Look for a Grapple point to get some distance or hide in a crawlspace of a house. Once the enemy is no longer alert, you can sneak up and score a Deathblow to continue your assault.

• Focus on these skills ASAP!
  Once you gain the ability to unlock skills, a few of them will make your life a lot easier. To begin with, the Mikari Counter should be your first purchase, this skill is almost mandatory. It will allow you to counter thrust based attacks for huge posture damage. Breath of Life: Light should be your next focus, this will recover health when using any Deathblow attack, allowing you to save your Gourds for when you really need it. Finally, Grappling Hook Attack is another useful early game skill that allows you to attack directly from after using the Grappling Hook and will help against the first boss.

• Make use of Coin Pouches!
  Coin Pouches have more uses to them than you may expect. You can use these as a way to bank your Sen, prevnting you from losing half upon death. Head to a merchant and buy the Coin Pouches in either size and then use them only when you wish to buy something.

• Clear out the surrounding enemies when facing Mini-bosses!
  Don’t underestimate just how difficult Mini-bosses (enemies that possess two Deathblow circles) and clear out all of the regular enemies out before facing them. In most cases, they are always accompanied by regular enemies so sneak around dispatch them before focusing on the main event.

• Don’t shy away from Mini-bosses!
  Likewise, don’t attempt to leave every Mini-boss you come to due to their difficulty. Although most Mini-bosses are tougher than regular bosses, they also provide you with a Prayer Bead upon defeat. These are the primary way of increasing your health and posture so always be on the lookout for them.

• Posture is king!
  Unlike most games where you want to focus on getting down a target’s health as quickly as possible, in Sekiro, Posture should be your main focus. Once you fully deplete a target’s posture, you’ll be able to perform a Deathblow that will one hit kill any target, even bosses (or shred a Deathblow circle from them). Indeed, some bosses are easier to defeat this way rather than focusing on their health.

• Be aggresive!
  To that extent, be aggressive in your plain and always try to be attacking the enemy, regardless of them blocking. As an enemy blocks, this increases their posture and allows you to strike that Deathblow.

• Guard to decrease your posture!
  One well hidden tip is the fact that you can recover your Posture by holding the guard button down. This is useful if you’ve just blocked/deflected an entire combo and your Posture is almost broken. Just make sure you gain some distance before doing it!

• Jump to evade, rather than dodge!
  Players who have played the other From Software games, Dark Souls and Bloodborne, may be inclined to dodge most attacks. While this can be useful in certain situations, the Jump is more useful. Jumping backwards is safer and jumping into enemy and perform a kick attack (jump again when next to an enemy) will deal Posture damage, especially following a Sweep attack.

• Explore your surroundings!
  The world is huge and shortly after the beginning areas, becomes very open. If you find yourself hitting a brick wall on one particular path, seek out another to find new Prosthetic Tools, Praeyr Beads and more.