Board 8 > Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Playthrough Topic *SPOILERS*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hey all! After my recent finish of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin (seriously, fuck you Frigid Outskirts...), I had the choice of going right to Dark Souls 3, or doing From's newest title that I picked up a couple weeks ago. I decided to go with Sekiro, as a bit of a difference from the Souls games. Figured I'd document my experiences as well, as I've heard this game is quite good, quite hard, and a very worthwhile experience.

As in the title, spoilers will obviously be happening throughout, so keep that in mind!!

Opening cinematic is pretty cool, and Wolf being found in what is essentially like a jail cell is very similar to Dark Souls 1. We go through the opening area, which is essentially the tutorial area, and find our master.............who is a kid. Something about him being the Divine Heir. He tells us to find a passage and use a reed whistle. Umm, won't that alert a whole bunch of people? Oh well.

I start into Sekiro's combat system, and it's quite fun. I can tell the deflecting is gonna take some getting used to, as I'm used to dodging a bunch in Souls games. Also getting used to the fact that there's a jump button lol.

We get to the passage, go through it, and find Lord Genichiro. Don't know what those red symbols are, but they do most of my health. Did a decent chunk of damage, but obviously got taken out. Then lost my arm lol.

---

Met the sculptor who gave me a prosthetic arm, which is essentially a murder arm with different tools. Met Emma, who can upgrade my healing gourd (estus flask) when I bring her gourd seeds (estus flask shards). I wander around the Ashina Outskirts, stealth killing some dudes, regularly fighting some dudes, and also fighting..........a giant chicken. Because why not.

After some running around, exploring, finding some items, figuring out the grappling hook, and accidentally consuming two pellets for no reason, I find General Naomori Kawarada. I get a stealth kill on him, and then only need to kill on health bar. The issue was that I thought I was very good at deflecting. The General showed me that I was not. Died multiple times (though also learned about the perilous attacks and to jump on their heads when they do a sweep), and eventually found out about dragonrot. That.............doesn't seem good. Got the shitty sculpture that lowers Unseen Aid's chances of happening (which I also learned about). Sculptor isn't doing so well now. Anyway, I'm able to kill the general by being more patient, slashing a little bit, and focusing on deflecting and counter slashing to do a bunch of posture damage. That got the job done. Gave Emma the gourd seed, and I can now heal twice!

Stopped for the moment, but very fun so far! Can definitely see myself getting in trouble regarding deflecting (I'm used to dodging), but loving the game so far!

---

I fucking love Sekiro

---

CassandraCain posted...

I fucking love Sekiro

Couple friends of mine have played through it (one hasn't beaten it yet though). They both love it, and the one who beat it told me to work on deflecting as much as possible. So I will be!

Gonna get back to this shortly! Got some time tonight.

---

lol you're already past where I made it before I had to quit from "I suck"-ness.

---

Tag

Deflecting is the key. Getting over dodging was the biggest hurdle for me after obsessing over the other games. Its actually a detriment at times in this game because you don't get the i-frames and you think you're dodging an attack but you're actually just taking free damage. The boss at about the one third mark is the first real challenge of "have you learned how to deflect" because if you haven't he is almost unbeatable

---

Yeah I still have to check myself before I press the dodge button. Practicing against some of the easier enemies, just to get myself used to it.

Continued on through the outskirts, met a woman who thought I was her son. She gave me a bell that was meant for the young lord, and something about praying to a Buddha statue with it. Found the real son who looked to be dying.

Killed some more dudes, including a giantish guy with a hammer. By stealth of course, because fuck fighting him straight up lol. Also killed a couple of gun/cannon dudes that were causing me issues. Found an idol, so went back to the temple.

Prayed using the bell, got a cutscene. Aaaaaand transported to 3 years ago? Hirata estate, interesting. But I still havent finished outskirts. I think I go back and do that first?

Also, after a bunch of trial and error, got onto the high platform where a tent was. Apparently it was a memorial mob? No idea, but they sold firecrackers, which is a prosthetic upgrade mat, so sold two light coin purses to buy it. Sculptor made me a shinobi firecracker tool. Looks cool.

---

Kept going through the outskirts, took out the two guys around the fire after eavesdropping about something huge chained up close that could hurt them. I go up the stairs and theres a chained fucking ogre. It sees me, gets super angry, and is suddenly not chained anymore.

I run away, letting it think Im gone, then come back for the stealth kill. I try to do it two times in a row, but it gains back both health bars anyway, so I have to fight it honestly to kill its second health bar.

Holy shit the hitbox on that diving grab is insane. Dodging to the side, ala dark souls, doesnt work at all. I eventually (after dying 4-5 times) learn to unlock and sprint away. That, along with a few uses of the amazingly useful shinobi firecracker to get in 2 free swings, finally takes him down!!

Thatll be it for tonight, but I feel like I made solid progress! Fun side note, the first time the ogre killed me, his grab got me, he punched me in the face, then yeeted me backwards off the cliff lol

---

Pretty sure everyone gets hurled off the cliff at least once by that ogre. It's basically a rite of passage. Good job defeating him, that's one of the first major hurdles when trying to get a feel for the controls.

Pro tip: you can sprint while locked on. This can be useful at times, against the ogre for instance.

non-pro tip: you can continue tapping L1 to make deflecting easier, but it kinda looks goofy.

Learning to deflect isn't so bad, it's about studying enemy attack patterns just like any souls game, but your focus is on defense instead of evasion now. At least blocking already existed before, cuz the REAL problem is jumping. Holy crap that took so much effort to get the hang of. I remember grinding my teeth on a single opponent's sweep attack over and over again because my thumb kept defaulting to dodge. Had me screaming at myself lol

---

Yeah my timing on jumping the sweep to land on the dudes head or jump kick him is not good, as evidenced by my trouble against that first mini boss. Got a bit better, but will take some getting used to for sure.

---

Will play some more today!

---

I cheesed a lot of the game with unlimited stamina sprint, but later bosses won't let you get away with that! I wish I'd just learned to l1 better

---

Yeah guard spam is what made most of my battles look silly (like I am taunting the boss 99 % of the time)
That said it always helps to remember that posture breaks are a lot easier if you at least damage the (mini)bosses a little as well.
---

Once you get a feel for the rhythm of combat it gets easier. A good dance usually consists of methodically hitting R1 (as in not mashing, don't ever mash attack) until your opponent blocks then you deflect their counterattack so you can transition back into one or two slashes. Certain bosses can get caught in a loop if you never miss the deflect.

Also this might be obvious but you can cancel the beginning of your attack, like if you hit R1 and realize it was a mistake quickly enough hit L1 and you can pull off some sweet last second panic deflects that way.

---

htaeD posted...

Yeah guard spam is what made most of my battles look silly (like I am taunting the boss 99 % of the time)
That said it always helps to remember that posture breaks are a lot easier if you at least damage the (mini)bosses a little as well.

Yeah I try to get in those counter-slashes whenever I'm able.

CassandraCain posted...

Also this might be obvious but you can cancel the beginning of your attack, like if you hit R1 and realize it was a mistake quickly enough hit L1 and you can pull off some sweet last second panic deflects that way.

That's definitely good to know!!

---

metaIslug posted...

I am also playing this. I don't really like playthrough topics though, so won't follow this. I'll say this, you'll be given an option to lure an npc (will literally say 'lure to area'). Don't choose that option. It was not what I had in mind...

Ehh I think this doesn't really matter, do whatever you'd like honestly. If you're someone that's looking for a platinum trophy you're probably going to have to play the game a few times anyway so just do whatever feels good. If you're a one and done then these decisions don't make a big difference

---

That choice doesn't really affect much of the game anyway

---

Picked it up again, moved onto the next area after the beastly ogre.

Next area has a whole fuckton of enemies in a relatively open area. The stupid guy with pots and pans screws over my stealth, but Im still able to murder everyone. My deflections against General Tenzen Yamauchi (because of COURSE theres another boss right after) are not great and I die.

Second attempt goes better. I kill everyone around (though still get seen once), and get a stealth kill on the general. I learn to get the fuck away when he holds his sword low, because that katana uppercut hurts. I bait the thrust a few times and get the mikuri counter, and deathblow him when he still had about an 1/8th of his health. Got a third prayer bead.

I keep going, dropping into a giant valley like area (and find an idol), and then HOLY GIANT FUCKING SNAKE!! I play cat and mouse with this terrifying animal, somehow not getting seen (well I got seen once, and was somehow under its strike). I eventually find that little shack and go inside. Then somehow stab it in the eye. It goes batshit insane, I run for my life, and am able to get away before getting obliterated. Just found the idol at the castle gate fortress.

---

Ahh yeah the mikuri counter is wonderful. Extra nice since you don't have to overwrite your muscle memory like with jumping, dodging into an enemy is basically instinctual

---

CassandraCain posted...

Ahh yeah the mikuri counter is wonderful. Extra nice since you don't have to overwrite your muscle memory like with jumping, dodging into an enemy is basically instinctual

Very true. What I have to get good at is recognizing when it's gonna be a thrust vs a sweep. Almost every time I counter slashed the general, it baited his sweep, and I didn't land one jump kick (I defaulted to backstepping, which is super annoying). Gotta knock the DS tendencies out of me still it seems.

Went to the next area, after dealing with that midget poison spitter guy near the idol. Man that guy was super annoying. Next area has a fuck ton of enemies. I listen to the exchange between Genichiro and Kuro through a remnant, and get found by an enemy while doing so. Eventually cleared out the area, including a stealth kill on the giant. Eavesdropped on an enemy near their dead horse, something about fireworks spooking it and getting it killed somehow. I assume that's a hint for me that there's a horse boss or something nearby, and to use the firecracker prosthetic. Good to know.

Then things came up and I had to stop. But I did see a giant open field, with a lotta dead shit strewn everywhere, looking very much like a boss arena. It looks like I can also circumvent all the enemies to get there, so I felt safe in going to the idol to be fully healed. Will do that today!

---

I love that for a Mikiri Counter I can just hold down block and click the other button at the right time to get that Mikiri.
---

htaeD posted...

I love that for a Mikiri Counter I can just hold down block and click the other button at the right time to get that Mikiri.

And the posture damage is awesome. If I had actually landed some jump kicks on those sweeps, I would've likely killed that general a bit earlier.

---

So I dropped down into the giant field area, ran around a little to pick up an item, and a general on a horse came out of the gate to attack me. General Gyoubu Oniwa, holding a giant spear and swinging it wildly. I do remember the eavesdrop moment, so I know firecrackers are my friend, but I die a few times because my timing on deflects were not great.

Three tries in, I am able to do enough damage for one deathblow, and get his posture up again, but die because I was very careless. I then get a rot sculpture of the timid maid. Ugh, so now she has dragonrot too. I don't even remember where she is.

Six tries in, I finally kill this beast. Had a tiny bit of health left, gourds and pellets were all gone, and he was about to slice me right before I did the last bit of damage needed to get the second deathblow.

Got a memory this time, instead of the prayer bead (ugh I just need one more bead), which upped my attack power, which is cool. Also a mechanical barrel thing, which now allows me to upgrade prosthetic tools. Got to the idol. It looks like the gate to the Ashina Castle, so maybe now is the time to go to Hirata Estate?

---

Seems good timing yeah

Congrats also.

And do you play with the english or japanese voices? (I ask because that boss has the best intro in the dub ever)
---

Yeah do Hirata next.

Also Japanese voices are dope

---

htaeD posted...

(I ask because that boss has the best intro in the dub ever)

Heck yes it still makes me laugh every time, all english VAs should have that kind of passion imo

---

Sekiro's Japanese audio is extremely good and fitting but GYOUBU MASATAKA ONIWAAAAAA by himself almost tips it in favor of the dub.

---

I have it set on Japanese audio with English subtitles. A friend of mine actually said that Gyoubus yell in Spanish is hilarious. Will likely YouTube both of them later lol.

Picking this up again. Went to find the maid since she now has dragonrot. Got a sample of her blood, took it to Emma, got a dragon blood droplet in return. And a recovery charm. This essentially gets rid of the rot sculptures I have? Is the recovery charm a limited use (I know the droplet is)?

---

No you can heal dragonrot any time so long as you have a droplet, but just save them for now

Wait until practically everyone has the rona then you can heal it

---

Ahh makes sense.

Went a bit further, since I never got a notification that I was in a new area, so I thought it was still the outskirts. Found the memorial mob, sold some coin purses to buy the gourd seed and dragons blood. Now I can heal 4 times, yay!

Killed some more dudes, including those fuckers with the big ass hats that are basically shields. Fuck those guys. Talked to a dude who wanted to kill me, but then told me to kill rats instead. His description sounded like those hat guys, so I went back and killed a few again (almost having to resurrect because I suck at deflecting them). He gave me the ashina arts skill thing. That ichimonji looks like something I want to learn right away. Got 1 skill point, need 211 xp for the second.

Also explored that building and found a prayer bead at the top. Yay a 4th! Went to the idol and got more vitality and posture, so thats awesome!

Stopped progressing once I eavesdropped about a beast, and the next area looking like a boss arena. Will NOW finally go to Hirata lol

---

Ha, so I just started a new game and got to those same "rats" and it took me too much effort to dispose of them. The best method is of course to sneak up from behind, but then you gotta run away to break their hostility and I'm honestly ashamed at how long I spent on the last one... although in my defense the dogs noticed me and got involved

See this is why going to Hirata first is a good idea since you get an item that's very useful for shield breaking

I forgot to do that first lol

---

Hirata Estate has some good weapons in general
---

Hirata has a prosthetic that makes the stupid hat dudes easier? Ugh I wish I knew that lol.

Didnt have much more time to play, so just got to the first idol in Hirata. Learned ichimonji of the ashina skills. Also found a treasure carp scale, and found two fish that each gave me one. So I have 3. No idea what they do, but they remind me of the crystal lizards in dark souls that skitter away when they notice you and disappear. Though unsure if the fish can disappear.

---

The fish can indeed disappear, though the treasure scales aren't that important. There's a guy in a barrel that you can exchange with, you missed him sitting on the little island where the fish were swimming around

---

I am pretty sure the rare fish dont despawn until after you kill them
---

Interesting, will definitely check out that island again and talk to the dude.

Gonna eat breakfast then play for a bit!

---

htaeD posted...

I am pretty sure the rare fish dont despawn until after you kill them

I sat and farmed them for like 30 minutes once so I don't think they despawn ever actually. I could be wrong though

---

No they despawn once you kill them. There's a limited amount of scales in the game, but you're able to obtain a couple more than you need.

To be specific there are 42 in total but you only need 40 to purchase everything

---

Do a whole bunch of exploring in Hirata Estate. I find both the flame vent thing, and the axe. Axe is very helpful against those shield guys at least.

There is about a million archers, and they always shoot fire arrows. Get rid of most of those, find another idol. Then I go left, find some walls to jump back and forth off of, and find this asshole purple ninja who has been kicking my ass for the last 20 minutes. I can mikiri counter his thrust kick, but I keep missing the jump kick on his head when he does the sweep. Plus he hits like a fucking truck. Still fighting him.

Also fought the shinobi hunter dude, and all he did was thrust attack me. I just kept mikiri countering him, and down he went. But seriously, fuck this ninja.

---

I was definitely not skilled enough to deal with that purple ninja the first time I ran into him. I remember doing something really cheesy like hitting him and then running away and hiding until he broke aggro and doing it again like 10 times.

---

I waited to fight him for a bit, but then I didnt find him until later
---

Oh btw I recommend working up to the topmost skill in shinobi arts, it's very useful

---

I eventually got the fucker. Just had to be more patient with him, mikiri counter the thrust kicks, jump kick the sweeps (which I still sucks at), and deflect as much as possible. Camera killed me a bunch when I got stuck in the corner, as it unlocked on him, I couldn't move or see, and then I was dead. But now he's dead, thank god, and I got the prosthetic thing in the temple. Never going back there ever again and I hope he's dead forever.

Going through the on-fire estate was kinda cool, except for the 100 enemies there are. After all of them, I see a big sumo wrestler looking dude, with like, 6 or 7 helpers. Hit and run to kill them all, then stealth kill the big guy. Juzou the Drunkard eh? I love that he spends time literally drinking (yes, I know it's to spray poison on his blade, but it's still funny), which allows me to get extra hits in. Also, some random dude ran in to help me briefly. No idea how or why. I got careless later in the battle and died, and when I was moving towards there again, I found him and was able to talk to him. Then he decided to go ham and rush Juzou and his 6 henchmen. Welp. Killed a few, then I was able to stealth kill the last two, stealth deathblow Juzou, and then it was 1 on 1. I was more careful and able to kill him this time.

We go into the actual mansion area, get a whole bunch of random items, including a prayer bead in a secret area behind a swinging door (thank you, remnant). Talk to a chick who said her son went to protect Kuro. Ahh the mom and son from earlier on, where the mom thinks Sekiro is her son. Interesting.

So we press on. Kill an archer who's randomly in there, move a big ass thing revealing a passageway, then head into a large arena-like area which I assume is a boss arena. Ahh yes, I assume correctly.

Not super sure of Lady Butterfly's motives, but she clearly wants to kill me. I play very cautiously with her, as I want to learn her move set (that grab from above is bruuuutal), and I'm actually able to take her out first try!!

.............Well, her first health bar at least. I honestly thought it was done since she only had one bar, but then she came back. And brought a bunch of ghosties along. I remembered the guy outside mentioning a snap seed, and I totally forgot to equip them. So I ran around. Then they all turned into sparkly glowy murder butterflies and came after me. Avoided almost all. Now phase 2. Jesus, now she shoots those fuckers at me as she attacks?! Oh cool, she can bring back the ghosts again. Anyway, I end up dying after taking off a quarter of her health.

I assume this is the main boss of the area? Atmosphere of the fight certainly points in that direction. I have some commitments tonight, but may try her a few more times. Of COURSE I get rot sculptures here lol. The son, and the newcomer. Who's the newcomer? It's funny, because I died like, 10 times to that fucking ninja and got nothing. I die once here, and boom, 2 rot sculptures lol.

---

You seem to be doing pretty well so far! Lady Butterfly is the stopping point for a lot of casual players

---

skullbone posted...

I was definitely not skilled enough to deal with that purple ninja the first time I ran into him. I remember doing something really cheesy like hitting him and then running away and hiding until he broke aggro and doing it again like 10 times.

I considered doing this, as I got more and more frustrated.

htaeD posted...

I waited to fight him for a bit, but then I didnt find him until later

That was my worry. That I would want to come back for him, and completely forget about him.

CassandraCain posted...

Oh btw I recommend working up to the topmost skill in shinobi arts, it's very useful

I will keep that in mind! I don't remember what exactly I've fully unlocked so far. I know I got the grappling hook attack (man that would have been helpful against Gyoubu), and a couple latent skills that do more posture damage I think.

skullbone posted...

You seem to be doing pretty well so far! Lady Butterfly is the stopping point for a lot of casual players

May have been a beginner's luck run. I just stayed super cautious. It was almost impossible to heal for a while, since she stayed right in your face. I have 4 healing gourds, and I think I'll have 2 or 3 pellets next time. Also, before getting the 2 rot sculptures, I got unseen aid. So I may go spend the gold I have on stuff before trying her again. But I can totally see how she could be a stopping point. Fast as hell, hits hard, some crazy timing at times, builds your posture fast, that insane range on the jumping grab, and then those ghost things. Does the snap seed help at all, like the dude said?

---

The snap seed makes all of the illusions go away but it won't stop her from doing the attack. Snap seeds aren't really easy to come by so I think it's not worth it personally.

Not sure if you're looking for tips so here's a mild one.

Shurikens are your friend in that fight because they knock her out of the air if you time it right.

---

Also keep attacking her even if she deflects every attack. She has a predictable pattern of counterattacks that makes it easy to deflect her and lower her notallthatgreatanyway stamina
---

Yeah the snap seeds aren't really worth it but personally I don't find any of the consumables in this game all that necessary.

Lady Butterfly is a good boss to practice on, she teaches the essentials of boss combat while also not being too vicious. The most important thing to get the hang of is NOT keeping your distance, you want to be in her face as much as possible.

And yeah shuriken every time she hops into the air

---

Yeah as I said earlier this game punishes you for playing it like dark souls/bloodborne. You're rewarded for staying in their face and attacking/deflecting, and punished for trying to look for openings (unless you want to cheese it but thats no fun)

---