Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Ashina Castle (Shinobi Invasion) Walkthrough

Ashina Castle (Shinobi Invasion) Walkthrough

Area: Abandoned Dungeon Entrance

Area: Ashina Reservoir

Area: Upper Tower – Antechamber

Area: Upper Tower – Dojo

Walkthrough List

Ashina Castle (Shinobi Invasion) Strategy

Ashina Reservoir Great Stairway

Powerful enemies will be lurking at the top of the great stairway. Instead of engaging them, make for the Sculptor’s Idol immediately. Once you access the checkpoint, it will be easier to take out the enemies one by one using Shinobi Deathblows.

Lone Shadow Vilehand

Lone Shadow Vilehand fight similarly to Lone Shadow Longswordsman, though Vilehand has an additional poison attribute to his attacks. He also does not fight alone as you will need to deal with his ally that appears to the left of the dojo’s door. Focus on Vilehand’s ally first. It helps if you have the Puppeteer Ninjutsu so you can have him attack Vilehand. Then, battle Vilehand the same way you did with Longswordsman.

Siding with the Divine Heir or The Great Shinobi Owl

When you reach the top of the castle’s upper tower, you will need to choose between staying loyal to Kuro, the Divine Heir or obeying the Iron Code. Siding with the Shinobi Owl gives you the bad ending, where you must kill Emma and Isshin. This choice quickly concludes the game and prevents you from obtaining other items and skills found in the other ending routes.

Siding with the Divine Heir will pit you against the Great Shinobi Owl and allows you to progress through the story even more.

Siding with The Divine Heir

Great Shinobi Owl

Great Shinobi Owl Boss Guide 

Creating a bit of space between you and the Great Shinobi Owl allows you to read his attacks better. A good opportunity to attack is after he throws two shuriken at you. He will raise his hand to telegraph the attack. Another is after parrying his rushing slash attack. Also, watch out for his poison bomb, as the poison mist lingers for a while after he drops it.

When you get to his 2nd HP bar, the Great Shinobi Owl will use smoke bombs to impair your sight. Just run away when you see him drop the smoke bomb and refocus your lock on him.

Siding with the Great Shinobi Owl

Emma, the Gentle Blade

Emma the Gentle Blade Boss Guide 

Emma does not give you a lot of openings to attack. As a rule, you do not want to parry her quick cross slash attack as one of the slashes is likely to hit you. Emma’s sword will glow before she unleashes the attack. Instead, try to bait her attack by creating some distance and attacking when she whiffs. Be sure to avoid her grab attack when you see the Dangerous mark appear.

A good time to parry her is during the last hit of her four-hit combo. The last hit is a bit delayed, so watch the timing carefully. You will be able to stun Emma if you successfully parry the combo’s finishing blow, allowing you to take out a good chunk of her HP afterward.

Isshin Ashina

Isshin Ashina Boss Guide 

Parrying is even more important against Isshin after you defeat Emma. First, initiate with an attack to cause Isshin to react and prepare to parry his attack. A good opportunity to attack him is when he raises his sword to perform his overhead to side slash. Get around him when you see him winding up the attack to get a few hits behind him. When you are at a good distance from him, Isshin will likely perform his quick cross slash (similar to Emma). Prepare to step back to make him whiff, then attack him as he recovers from the move.

During the 2nd phase of the fight, Isshin will perform various fire-based attacks. One of them has Isshin stomping the ground to create a flame and hurling a wave of fire at you. You can dodge this by moving to your left or right.

When you see Isshin crouch for a short period, he is preparing to perform a Dangerous wide-arc flame slash. You should be able to dodge this. Another attack that you should watch out for is when Isshin causes the pillars of flames to fill the area. He will then dash towards the center to slash at you. You can parry the first hit to deal even more posture damage.

Using the Shinobi Firecracker allows you to stun Isshin for a moment when he winds up his attacks. This makes the fight considerably easier as you will not worry about timing your dodges or deflecting his attacks.

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