Summary: This Sekiro guide offers a complete walkthrough of the game’s best skills, boss order, combat strategies, and essential tips to help players master every challenge in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is FromSoftware’s boldest departure from the Soulsborne formula. With its focus on precise timing, stealth mechanics, and a deeply engaging combat system, it offers a brutally rewarding experience. This Sekiro guide is your go-to cheat sheet for mastering skills, progressing through boss fights in the optimal order, and enhancing your combat efficiency.

Whether you’re a first-time player or revisiting for a better ending, this guide covers everything: best skills, prosthetic tools, boss strategies, farming locations, and more.

Table of Contents

1. Starting Tips for Beginners
2. Best Skill Tree Upgrades
3. Boss Guide & Recommended Order
4. Prosthetic Tools Overview
5. Healing and Resurrection Tips
6. Item & Resource Farming Guide
7. Stealth Mechanics & Enemy Types
8. Ending Paths and Key Choices

Starting Tips for Beginners

New to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice? Prepare to die—a lot. FromSoftware’s signature difficulty returns with a twist: there’s no character build or stat grind here. Victory lies in timing, patience, and skillful execution. These essential beginner tips will help you survive the early hours and thrive in the Land of Ashina.

1. Expect to Die (More Than Twice)

Let’s get one thing out of the way—you will die. Sekiro punishes mistakes but rewards perseverance. Don’t get discouraged by repeated failure. Take breaks, breathe, grab a snack—your mindset matters more than your reflexes. Every defeat is a lesson, and every retry makes you stronger.

2. Explore Everything

Sekiro’s world is full of hidden treasures. While it’s tempting to sprint toward the next Sculptor’s Idol, you’ll miss vital items and upgrades if you don’t explore.

Why exploration matters:

• Hidden paths often lead to Prosthetic Tools like the Shinobi Firecracker or Loaded Axe
• Find valuable consumables like Pellets, Sugar buffs, and Ash
• Discover shortcuts, NPCs, and Gourd Seeds

3. Embrace Stealth

Stealth isn’t optional—it’s essential. Taking out enemies quietly reduces danger and gives you control over fights.

Stealth best practices:

• Crouch-walk to stay silent
• Use tall grass, ledges, and grapple points to stay out of sight
• Scout enemy layouts from rooftops before engaging
• Assassinate isolated targets to thin enemy ranks

But beware—snipers on rooftops can spot you quickly, so always check above!

4. Assassinate Smart, Not Just Fast

Stealth kills are powerful tools to initiate combat on your terms. Enemies unaware of you are vulnerable to instant deathblows—no need to chip away at posture or vitality.

Assassination strategy:

• Target alert enemies (e.g. ones with drums, torches) first—they’ll call reinforcements
• Prioritize heavily-armored foes or high-damage dealers
• Always plan your escape or backup route in case things go loud

5. Master the Deathblow

Deathblows are your bread and butter. These one-hit finishers can turn the tide of battle and offer key advantages:

Eliminate enemies instantly, even with high vitality

Grant brief invulnerability during the animation

Restore Resurrection charges for a second chance at life

Focus on posture damage and look for those red icons—Deathblows win fights quickly and safely.

6. Blocking is Good, But Deflecting is Better

In Sekiro, blocking reduces damage, but deflecting can end fights.

• Deflect (tap block right as the attack lands) to deal posture damage and open enemies to counterattacks
• Block and hold when overwhelmed, but beware—it builds posture fast
• Use blocking to recover posture faster during downtime

Bosses often chain attacks; learning their patterns is key to mastering the deflect rhythm.

7. Sometimes, Running is the Right Move

Sekiro punishes death: you lose half your Sen (money), half your XP progress, and risk spreading Dragonrot, which affects NPCs and side quests.

When to run:

• You’re low on healing and outmatched
• You’re sitting on a lot of resources
• You’ve explored an area but want to regroup

Running can also be a fast way to retry a boss without slogging through the area again. It’s not cowardice—it’s strategy.

8. Mini-Bosses: Risk vs Reward

Mini-bosses are tougher enemies with names and two deathblow markers. While many are optional, they often guard useful loot or block important paths.

Defeating them rewards:

• Prayer Beads (4 = max HP and posture increase)
• Prosthetic Tool upgrades
• Skill XP and unique items

9. Use Skills Strategically

Sekiro’s skill trees offer powerful combat tools. You can’t rely on armor or weapons, but your abilities make all the difference.

Struggling with a spear enemy?

Unlock Mikiri Counter—it destroys thrust attacks.

Overwhelmed?

Use Shinobi Firecracker to stun enemies and regain control.

Always consider what skill could turn the tide against a specific mini-boss or enemy type.

10. Use Your Items

Sekiro throws consumables at you for a reason—use them. Every item in your inventory offers a tactical edge.

• Sugar items: Buff damage, reduce posture damage, or enhance stealth
• Fistful of Ash: Stuns enemies temporarily
• Ceramic Shards: Distractions to isolate enemies
• Divine Confetti: Essential for ghost enemies

Don’t hoard. Use them when you’re stuck, especially against mini-bosses and ghosts.

11. Visit the Dilapidated Temple Often

Your home base, the Dilapidated Temple, evolves with your progress. Visit Emma and the Sculptor regularly for:

• Healing upgrades (Gourd Seeds)
• New Prosthetic Tools
• Key lore and story developments
• Dialogue that triggers quests or unlocks skills

Many powerful upgrades begin with a simple conversation.

Early-game Sekiro is brutal, but these tips will help you build confidence, reduce frustration, and fight smarter. With patience and practice, you’ll go from struggling with basic guards to parrying Genichiro like a pro.

Best Skill Tree Upgrades

Sekiro features several skill trees, each focusing on different combat styles. Here are the primary trees:

• Shinobi Arts – Stealth and agility-based moves
• Ashina Arts – Powerful sword techniques
• Prosthetic Arts – Enhancements for your Shinobi Tools
• Temple Arts – Monk-style martial arts
• Mushin Arts – Endgame hybrid skills

1. Mikiri Counter – Essential for countering thrust attacks
2. Suppress Presence – Better stealth kills
3. Run and Slide – Faster mobility and stealth
4. Aerial Deathblow – Attacks from above
5. Breath of Life: Light – Heal on deathblows

Boss Guide & Recommended Order

Bosses are the heart of Sekiro, each with unique challenges. Here’s a suggested progression path for smoother difficulty scaling:

1. Gyoubu Oniwa
2. Lady Butterfly
3. Genichiro Ashina
4. Folding Screen Monkeys
5. Guardian Ape
6. Headless Ape
7. Corrupted Monk
8. Great Shinobi Owl
9. Isshin Ashina

• Gyoubu Oniwa – Weak to Firecrackers; break posture on horseback
• Lady Butterfly – Use Snap Seeds; punish her after aerial combos
• Guardian Ape – Firecrackers in Phase 1; dive to avoid poop attack

Optional Bosses like the Demon of Hatred or Shichimen Warriors can be skipped but reward you with powerful loot and challenge.

Prosthetic Tools Overview

Your prosthetic arm is more than a gimmick — it’s a vital toolkit. Here’s a quick look:

• Shuriken – Long-range finishers
• Firecracker – Startling beasts and interrupting
• Flame Vent – Deals burn damage and great for crowd control
• Loaded Axe – Break shields
• Divine Abduction – Useful in Senpou Temple

Most tools can be found by exploring or purchased from merchants. Upgrade using Fulminated Mercury, Adamantite Scrap, and more.

Healing and Resurrection Tips

Survival is about more than skill — resources and strategy matter.

• Gourd Seeds: Increase healing uses. Found across major zones and sold by merchants.
• Resurrection: Can revive once upon death — recharge by resting or defeating enemies.
• Dragonrot: A penalty for dying too much. Use Dragon’s Blood Droplet to cure it.

Item & Resource Farming Guide

You’ll need resources for prosthetics, upgrades, and consumables. Here are the best places to farm:

• Sen (Money): Mibu Village or Ashina Castle
• Spirit Emblems: Hirata Estate (easy early game farming)
• Upgrade Materials: Ashina Depths, Fountainhead Palace

Visit Memorial Mob merchants for limited rare items and key upgrades.

Stealth Mechanics & Enemy Types

Stealth is often the smarter path. It allows you to eliminate enemies silently, avoid alerting groups, and set up boss fights with a deathblow.

• Stick to rooftops and ledges
• Use ceramic shards to distract
• Suppress Presence skill + grass cover = near-invisibility

Know your enemy:

• Samurai – Parry-heavy duels
• Beasts – Weak to fire and fear
• Monks – Unblockable combos, tricky timing

Ending Paths and Key Choices

Sekiro has four endings, determined by your choices mid- to late-game.

1. Shura – Bad ending (betray allies)
2. Immortal Severance – Normal ending
3. Purification – Requires eavesdropping and secret steps
4. Return – True ending; complete the Divine Child’s quest

Make your decisions after defeating Guardian Ape and Great Shinobi Owl for the most branching options.

Conclusion

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice rewards precision, patience, and persistence. This guide is designed to help you optimize your gameplay with the best skills, efficient boss order, and essential combat strategies. Whether you’re fighting your way to the true ending or mastering Mikiri Counters, these tips will sharpen your blade and your mind.

Want to explore even more? Check out Xmod or similar tools to enhance your single-player experience — and don’t forget: victory is always earned, never given, in Sekiro.