Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a FromSoftware game, the same creators who made Dark Souls and Bloodborne. These titles are infamous for their insane difficulty and their annoying boss fights. But are the boss fights really annoying? There is no better satisfaction than beating a Sekiro boss, or as of that matter even Dark Souls. But here we will be talking about Sekiro’s bosses which I have ranked from the easiest to the most tough. Take note that in this list I will only be ranking the bosses, so no mini-bosses are included in this list. Also, this list contains spoilers about the bosses from the game. So if you haven’t beaten the game yet you might want to check on this list after doing so. And now, without further ado, let’s begin.
Table of Contents
List of All Sekiro Bosses Ranked from Easiest to the Most Difficult
14. Folding Screens Monkeys
This is the easiest Sekiro boss the game has to offer. At least in terms of combat difficulty – it only has one phase. They don’t possess any threat as such you just have to be alert on how to catch them to hunt them. Now, this might be a cheese but using Gachiin’s Sugar makes this boss a joke. If you are fast you can defeat all 4 of them with just one use of the Gachiin Sugar. This Boss has you defeat 4 monkeys. White is invisible, Orange makes noise, Purple sees really well, and Green hears the best.
Using Gachiin’s Sugar you can suppress your presence hence if you defeat the White, Orange & Green first and are fast enough on your feet you can catch the Purple one and defeat them easily. But if you want some sort of challenge from this boss don’t use the tips I gave above and just go without the Gachiin Sugar. This is sure to give you some fun.
13. Divine Dragon
A Sekiro boss found near the end of the game. Its grand body will make you feel he is a big threat but in reality, nothing could be far from the truth. Divine Dragon is a two-phase boss fight. Its phase 1 is super easy and even phase 2 isn’t that much of a challenge. Divine Dragon shoots large slashes of wind towards you. You will have to grapple around the trees to look for the lightning and the moment you get struck just do the Lightning Reversal. Make sure your target is locked at the dragon while doing the Lightning Reversal.
12. Gyobu Masataka Oniwa
Gyobu Oniwa first boss you encounter in the game not counting the mini-bosses. This feels like an actual boss fight for multiple reasons. Firstly, you just started the game so you barely have any Prosthetic Tools, Prayer Beads, or Memory to help Sekiro. Secondly, he charges at you using his spear. If the fact that he gets a horse while you have to run around wasn’t unfair enough already. Now, you will also deal with the range that is his spear. It allows him to cover a good area while attacking. And the fact that you don’t have much health on your first playthrough makes this challenge even more exciting. But as challenging as this boss is, so is the taste of victory when you beat it.
11. Lady Butterfly
Lady Butterfly is an optional boss. She has two phases and Phase 1 isn’t very tough. But that’s the trick. Once you beat her first phase you’ll see that that was just an illusion. Phase 2 is where things get nasty. This is one of those emotional fights because in her second phase she summons ghosts of Kuro. Yep, I said ghosts not ghost so they all come to attack you. So not only do you have to beat her but also destroy the ghosts of your master. At least the game expects you to. Let’s say you didn’t destroy the ghosts, now there is another problem because when she snaps they turn into homing projectiles and all come at you together.
10. Headless Ape
Headless Ape is a skippable boss fight. And the reason I placed it before Guardian Ape is because it is a bit underwhelming as compared to when you fight it the first time. Now don’t get me wrong it is still very annoying to beat for multiple reasons. The first is that you fight him in a closed space as compared to the large space you used for the first fight with him. And when he starts losing he calls up his friend to do a 2v1 on you. Now, the 2v1 fight might feel scary but it has a trick and once you figure it out it is just beating the headless ape in a 1v1 which won’t take much time.
9. Guardian Ape
Giant and intimidating. The perfect short description for this boss. A very annoying boss who I find annoying to beat even to this day. His attacks make him troublesome. Not to mention Guardian Ape is one of those bosses whom you have to chip away their health bar instead of doing the posture damage. And to mock you even further he throws literal poop at you. Monkey business if you ask me.
Did I tell you it has a second phase? Well, now I did. Don’t try to deny, you thought you beat Guardian Ape. If you figured out the fight is over then either you were spoiled or are a liar. Else you might just have a really good game sense or perception because most of us definitely were fooled when we beat Guardian Ape. I’ll give you a small tip though try using Loaded Spear when his open neck is in front of you. Oh and don’t forget to use it twice. I won’t explain what it does, I’ll just leave that for you to try and experience for yourself.
8. Corrupted Monk
This game has a tendency to throw bosses at you that are nearly twice the size of Sekiro. Corrupted Monks is one of them. Even though she only has one red marker, she is a huge pain in the butt to defeat. And for some reason, normal attacks don’t work on her always. So your best bet is to learn her moveset, memorize her attack pattern, and get enough muscle memory through a ton of practice to defeat her. But I will say she is one of the most satisfying bosses in the game to beat. Before I move on to the next boss here is a little tip for your next playthrough, at the start of the fight use Snap Seed to reduce her health. You can’t spam it and make her health reach 0 but I’ll let you try it for yourself.
7. Genichiro Ashina
Personally one of the most favorite bosses of mine of all time. Not even talking specifically to this game. Genichiro is a very interesting boss. He is tough that is an undeniable fact. But not one you cannot beat. With enough time and practice, this boss will go from your most hated to the most loved boss. You can trust me on that. Genichiro has two red markers and another phase when you take those two out.
If I must say so myself the first phase is more enjoyable than the second phase. The second phase is Genichiro Lightning of Tomoe. This phase is easy because again here you can use Lightning Reversal. It not only does a good amount of damage but also leaves him stunned for a moment. Thus, giving you a chance to spam attacks and reduce his health even further. But, the beauty of the first phase is you can’t rely on lightning. It is purely a sword fight. Along with, him using his bow and arrow sometimes. But, still for the most part it is a sword fight. And believe me, if you do learn his moveset and when to deflect you will actually feel like you are fighting him and not Sekiro.
6. True Corrupted Monk
True Corrupted Monk is at the 6th position for a reason. She has 3 red markers and all 3 of them are different phases. The first one is very easy. I know easy and FromSoftware doesn’t go together. But you’ll have to take my word for it. The first phase is basically the fight you had with the Corrupted Monk. The second phase is where she starts using illusions. Oh and don’t think about climbing the branches to wait till her illusionary attacks disappear. She can and will jump and attack you.
In the third phase, things start to go berserk. Firstly, a giant centipede comes out from her body. Disgusting. Secondly, she gets much more aggressive as compared to before. Oh, and be wary of her Terror attack. She will start spewing some form of toxic which will inflict Terror. Once you get used to her attack pattern then it is just like the previous two phases and you’ll have her defeated in no time.
5. Owl Father
Why is Owl Father is earlier than the Great Shinobi Owl in this list? A good question, I have placed him here because of one good reason. And, that reason is that you get ample of space to run around while learning his moveset. Also, this is an optional boss so again you can totally skip it. The thing which made Owl Father fight easy for me was this abundant space. But the space is no good if you plan to run away. Because he will come to attack you. And don’t take his attacks any lightly, because even though you might have plenty of areas to move around for dodging he won’t let you get away any easier.
Oh and he can Mikiri counter your thrust attacks. This makes him very annoying for a lot of players out there. But for me I never used thrust attacks, to begin with so never faced this issue. Still, the fact that he can fly away in an owl in his second phase and appear out of nowhere is pretty scary. Moreover, that owl won’t just be used to appear and disappear from place to place. He will throw a giant flaming owl that covers a lot of area towards you. Just thinking about it is making me revisit the number of times I had to retry before I beat him. I would highly recommend you to go fight this boss. As difficult as he is, so is the satisfaction you get after beating him.
4. Isshin Ashina
The old man Isshin Ashina. Don’t get fooled by his appearance. Despite his old age and looks, he is very swift. And if you give him an opening, you won’t even know when you died. Like most bosses, his first phase is relatively easier. Easier to his second phase that is. Even in his first phase, his attacks are a nuisance. But his first phase is purely a sword fight. This phase has a lot of moves which you just faced while fighting Emma, just he is faster and does more damage.
Let’s talk about his second phase. His moves will set the place on fire. No, quite literally he engulfs most of the room in fire with only a few safe spots. Oh and don’t think you are safe just because you didn’t get caught up in fire. You won’t even see when his flames are gone and when he has rushed towards you with a slash. This is the only move in this whole phase that is the biggest threat. Not that his other moves aren’t deadly but if you can successfully deal with it. You will surely be able to handle the rest of the fight.
3. Demon of Hatred
Another optional boss. A very sad Sekiro boss fight as well. Demon of Hatred is none other than the Sculptor who is consumed by Shura. He has 3 phases and a lot of moves in each phase. The one thing good about this fight. A lot of room for you to run away from him to recuperate. But this isn’t a given thing. His range is unlike anything you’ve seen in the game. And you can get one hit as easily. A tip I would like to give you is that don’t go for the Posture bar. He is easier to defeat when you chip away its health rather then try to fill up his Posture bar for a deathblow.
I’ll explain the highlight attacks from each phase. In the first phase, there aren’t that many ranged attacks but you will need to be very careful when dodging his attacks. Yes, I mean dodge and not deflect. For his second phase, he does shoot a lot of projectiles. And in his third phase, he straight up makes a wall of fire where you can either fight inside the wall or outside. Well, whichever side you do choose I’ll just say stay close to him. And this tip goes for all the phases and not just the third phase you’ll find dodging his attacks much easier as compared to from afar.
2. Great Shinobi Owl
Now coming to the second hardest Sekiro boss on this list. Great Shinobi Owl, The reason for me keeping him 2nd is the location where we fight him. Ashina castle isn’t the best place to fight someone like him whose attacks cover a good range. And the worst part about this fight is the game’s camera malfunctioning. This area is just more prone to you breaking the camera and getting stuck between the doors. It has happened to me way more often than I would like to remember.
He has two phases, for some reason, I found the first phase harder than the second phase. Even though in the second phase he’ll start using tricks like using smoke bombs to disappear and throw poison on the ground. But one attack which everyone who has fought him will agree is the most annoying is his green cloud bomb. This is an attack that doesn’t allow you to use healing items for a short while. No healing plus lack of space to run away forces you to deflect his attacks. And, when you are new to the game this is quite a Herculean task to achieve.
1. Isshin the Sword Saint – Toughest Sekiro Boss
Finally, the number one most difficult and satisfying Sekiro boss of this list, Isshin the Sword Saint. Where do I even begin with this boss? He is tough but just like Genichiro he too isn’t unfair. Even he has 3 phases. With phase 1 being the easiest and a pure sword fight. Phase 2 is where he brings out the big guns. Well, not guns but definitely a gun and a big spear. In phase 2 you are not just dealing with his sword attacks but also with his spear which has a very good range and with his gun. In my opinion phase 2 is the most difficult phase of all boss fights in the entire game. It is a true test of patience.
As Isshin says, “Hesitation is Defeat”. You will need a lot of grit when fighting him. Let’s get to the third phase because I can keep praising the second phase and it won’t end. The third phase is when he brings in lightning attacks and slashes of winds along with all the moves from the second phase. But again since lightning comes into play this phase gets easy. But even with the lightning don’t expect this phase to suddenly turn into a walk in the park. You will need a lot of patience and attention when fighting him. But trust me when I say this, it will be worth it. I can’t express the euphoria I felt when I beat the game. One of the best feelings of all time and don’t just take my word for it. Ask any player who has beaten this game, most will say the same.
This was my list of the Sekiro bosses ranked from easy to hard. Since the game is unique you might feel some other boss to be very difficult. But if you do plan on playing it which I would highly recommend, be sure to check out our guide on Sekiro all endings. With this, you can experience every ending given by the game.