Beginner's Guide to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

FromSoftware has renounced the RPG roots of its Soulsborne genre with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which is a challenging game indeed, even by the standards of a Japanese developer known for crafting difficult gameplay (a fact we talk about in our review). It is imperative that you master the game's mechanics because there is no way around this challenge. Farming levels and stats in hope to use stronger equipment in upcoming boss encounters is not an option in Sekiro and online players will not be able to help you in combat. Your own set of skills is all you have at your disposal to overcome FromSofware's latest challenge and in this article, we explain some of the key mechanics and rules to help you.

Keep your cool

Those who have experience with the previous FromSoftware titles should know some of the basic combat tactics already. However, Sekiro plays much faster and is way more aggressive, which is why many encounters from the earlier Soulsborne games appear almost relaxing in comparison. In combat, your goal is to break your opponent's stance in order to find the perfect weak point in which you can land that final killing blow. To get there you can either deal damage with light strikes or reflect enemy attacks. The very special shinobi, however, block most of our attacks effortlessly and lets you strike back whenever the opportunity arises (indicated by a sword clank and some sparks flying). You must acclimatise yourself to this struggle, defend and evade accordingly while finding your own rhythm of when to attack in the short intervals between enemy actions.

Don't give your opponent a chance to breathe

Sekiro has an interesting interdependency between the posture of a fighter and his remaining stamina (or life energy). The better the physical condition of an adversary, the faster his posture regenerates. When your enemy is at high health you'll be forced to cancel his or her sword dance before it gets deadly and if you pause to heal or use another item, you basically restart the fight, since the posture of our opponent passively regenerates very quickly. Fortunately, most of our enemies' remaining energy can be decimated bit by bit with follow-up attacks after successful dodges, slowly breaking their stance while ultimately helping us overcome the enemy's posture.

Learn to read your opponents

During combat, you will constantly be confronted with attacks that are initiated with a red Japanese character. You have to read these unblockable attacks and learn how to use that knowledge to your advantage - there is no way around it. Nasty grab attempts, floor sweeps and spear stabbing attacks cause tremendous damage that can easily kill you (at least when you're not at full health), but they are also some of the safest options for counterattacks. For example, Mikiri counters may seem unthinkable to many new players, but it is undoubtedly the strongest move in the game. In late-game boss fights, the high risk/high reward Mikiri counter (which has you lunge into an opponent's stab attack with the reward being massive damage dealt to the posture of your opponent while remaining unscathed) is something you do not want to miss by any means. But if you miss the counter you will, without a doubt, catch the attack coming at you with your fragile face. With the undead samurai Hanbai in the shrine, you can practice these and many other techniques, but it is something else completely to get those attacks down in the wild.

Hit and run

If you can't seem to defeat an enemy, perhaps it's time for the most cowardly strategy, proven by many beginners of the Dark Souls series; running around the opponent in a circle and provoking a favourable series of attacks that expose the defence of your opponent. Find the right timing, land one or two hits, return to a safer location and try again. It's a time-consuming strategy, but it's relatively safe (if you keep a steady eye on your surroundings and make sure the camera doesn't lose track of you) and it helped us internalise some straight-up evil attack patterns. Most enemies are vulnerable for a few seconds right after they've landed massive jump attacks, and players who end up staring at the vulnerable back of an adversary will get a larger attack window before an enemy reboots its parade. Of course, if you're playing defensively, you have to be very patient, but the alternative requires excellent reaction speeds, plus high skill and knowledge of the game or the games that came before.

Use stealth

Shinobis are not bound by any code of honour, so the victory is all that counts. Sekiro's stealth mechanics are a big help when it comes down to thinning out adversaries and performing critical attacks on tougher targets. Anyone who ambushes an opposing general from the shadows and stabs away his first life bar with a death blow saves themselves half of the battle (mini-bosses also have no second phase, which makes them manageable). Anyone whose party is suddenly interrupted by fresh forces still has the choice to make a tactical retreat. Once the alarm is over, most enemies return to their posts and are vulnerable to potentially deadly stealth attacks in the process. Unfortunately, mini-bosses regenerate their lost life during this phase.

Don't forget about the revive mechanic

Although FromSoftware explains many of Sekiro's game mechanics quite well, the revival element is a tougher nut to crack. The truth is: the more you die, the faster a disease called Dragonrot spreads throughout the world. Over time, the coughing infects and somewhat debilitates the few friendly NPCs you met in the course of the game, making you miss out on some dialogue as well as missions (and it reduces the chances of you to gain Unseen Aid - a game mechanic that prevents the player from losing part of their resources when dying). Don't worry though, you'll still be able to buy items from them. With a Dragon's Blood Droplet, however, this status can be temporarily restored at the resting idols, so your deaths have no lasting effect on the game. There is no such thing as a hidden counter that affects one of the possible endings, and even if it does, then it serves only for the amusement of Miyazaki.

Make sure to explore the world

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has an incredibly atmospheric game world and those who don't explore Ashina are really missing out on a lot of the game's charm. Many areas reward one's curiosity with valuable items that flow into one's shinobi tools, the very limited item supply or rewards linking directly to the character progression of the one-armed Wolf. Many opponents drop 'prayer beads' when defeated, which increases your defence and posture gauge in combat. Those who find 'gourd seeds' shouldn't hesitate and increase the capacity of the healing gourd bottle through Emma in one of the hubs in the game. Later into the story, we also get a new movement option that allows previously locked areas to be accessed. Another useful mechanic is gathering the information that the hero receives in stealth mode while eavesdropping on opponents (recognisable by a special icon above the heads of your enemies). By doing so, you often get an important clue about our next boss battle.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is, without a doubt a tough game to get through, especially if one doesn't come prepared. Once you've mastered all of the tricks mentioned above, however, you'll be able to take on even the most sinister of bosses and brutal enemies. Did you miss our review? You can read it right here.