Sekiro: 10 Helpful Tips & Tricks To Defeat The Final Boss

Sekiro is a hard, hard game with nothing approximating an easy mode. The enemies are tough, the bosses are tougher and the final boss Isshin, the Sword Saint is, without a doubt, the hardest in the entire game, possibly one of the toughest in video game history.

Even FromSoftware veterans have found this particular foe a massive chore.

Given that most of you - if the percentage shown on the trophy list is anything to go by - aren't beating him, it seems appropriate to dispense some knowledge and wisdom in the hope of getting you at least one step closer to victory.

You can attempt to cheese Isshin by simply running in circles and baiting some of his attacks so you can nip in and execute a quick sword swipe. However, this takes forever, there's no guarantee of success as he can still catch you and deal massive damage, and worst of all, you won't leave feeling very satisfied.

To be frank, it's quicker and easier to learn and master a few moves, utilise the tools and items at your disposal, then learn to anticipate some of your foe's attack patterns.

So, if you haven't rage quit and deleted your file and you're prepared to put in the time, you can and will defeat this guy.

Let's get this out of the way, as going this route can get tedious.

Getting the mask in the first place can be a grind (you need to visit three vendors and have a few carp scales in your pocket) but once you have it, you can level up your attack power to your heart's content - to level 99 if you wish.

To do so requires 5 level points per increase, so get ready to grind, again.

If you plan to do this it's worth taking your attack power to level 14, as each increase will improve the amount of physical and posture damage you deal by 20%. From level 15 onwards it only increases by 8%.

Doing this will also gain you practical experience, items and sen for more items. There are some really good areas for farming: The Senpou Temple for sugars and Ashina Castle and the Outskirts for XP.