Sekiro 4players: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — Test, Action-Adventure, PlayStation 4, PC, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X

Q) Can I use other mods with this one?
A) If you want, to use mod engine you’ll probably have to do some research but apart from that you can. Mods won’t show up for other people, and please do not use param mods as they can give an unfair advantage (e.g. infinite consumables, trainers, etc.)

Q) Can I see the source code?
A) Maybe, one day, but I’m reluctant to do so with the track record of malicious cheaters in souls games. I’d rather not have people running around with modified copies of the mod, and being able to connect with legitimate users.

Q) Can you disable invasions?
A) No. PvP is a part of the risk associated with the huge advantage against PvE that playing in co-op offers 

Special thanks

Huge thanks to Enlisted, Loki, and Unfairest for all the help testing the mod, and suggesting and testing features.

Special thanks to Pav, for helping with design features, and with bug fixes/te
sting/suggestions.

The Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Mini-Boss that Makes Players Quit the Game | by Jak Nguyen

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a challenging game, but it’s not difficult. Not by a long shot. I dispel that in this article.

However.

Plenty of people still find this game very difficult, and I wanted to find out why. So once again, let’s use data to clarify the picture:

Source: PS4 Trophies: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — 01/02/2021

Goodness, what’s going on between receiving your sword and Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa? That’s a massive drop off between the beginning of the game and the 1st boss!

In fact, 34% — over 1 in 3 players — drop out of the game before they even get to the 1st boss! What’s going on?

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — Gyoubu Oniwa Masataka — 1st Boss

What is happening between receiving Kusabimaru to start the adventure, and 1st boss Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa? What’s preventing 1 in 3 players from experiencing the rest of the game?

It’s this guy:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — Chained Ogre — Mini-Boss

Fuck this guy.

Up until this point, you only fight 2 mini-bosses, both of them samurai.

This is the 1st time in the game you fight something bigger than you, that also has a Grab Attack.

And it SUCKS.

There are 2 reasons why 1 in 3 players don’t cross this threshold:

You can’t sneak up behind it to take off a health bar.

Yes, if you’re sneaky and use a Gachiin’s Sugar, this is doable. BUT you only get 2 of this consumable at this point in the game. Not much opportunity to experiment, is there?

And there’s nothing about the environment and fight arena that will help you. Tree branch, cliffside, stairs, overlook, walls, corners? They do NOTHING. No alternative path, no vantage point, no interactive tools or equipment.

The Chained Ogre hates fire — and the game will suggest using the Flame Vent Prosthetic Tool. However, your fire attack does next to no damage to it, other than stunning the Chained Ogre for a bit to get some extra hits in.

You are occasionally prompted to grapple to Chained Ogre, but this just closes the distance. If you’ve unlocked Grappling Hook Attack — it adds a whopping 1 extra hit in.

There’s no AHA! moment in this fight. No realisation. There’s no click.

You’re forced to play the game on its own terms — which is to whack the Chained Ogre for 2 health bars until it dies. This goes on for 2–3+ minutes.

What a shitty game experience for most players.

EVERYONE screams at Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice because of this: the hit box for the Chained Ogre’s Grab Attack is rage quit inducing.

You’ll be visibly clear of the Grab Attack — you’re jumping away, dodging backwards or stepping to the side, etc. Doesn’t matter what you do — the hit box is so big, you’re almost always magically transported into the Grab Attack.

From a game studio with a reputation for games that are supposed to be Tough but Fair, this is particularly FRUSTRATING and UNFAIR.

Everyone hates this mini-boss, and for very good reason.

Learn the attack patterns and battle flow:

2–3 hits. Dodge the attack. 2–3 hits. Dodge the Grab Attack. That’s it.

Don’t get greedy. Be patient. Time your dodges well. Dodge forward left / right. Take your time, and frame it as an endurance fight.

It throws you off the cliff? Don’t panic, simply grapple back to safety on the tree branch.

Play the game like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Not Dark Souls.

Defeat Chained Ogre on it’s own merits. Yes, it’s the most bullshit part of the game. But stick through it!

I promise you the rest of the game is legit much more fun.

It became known how difficult Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is

While most studios and companies are moving towards simplifying the gameplay for the sake of mass production, FromSoftware is not losing ground. Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and now Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are projects for those who are ready for difficulties and defeats.

As conceived by the creators, the latest of the «soulsborne», Sekiro, was made with the expectation of accessibility to a wide audience. But some called it the most difficult of the studio’s projects, because it cannot, as before, rely on skillful possession of evasion. Is the complexity of Sekiro really off scale, and what place does the game take in a number of similar projects?

The Polish portal GRY-Online decided to investigate this issue. And the journalists took game achievements and the percentage of those who were able to get them as a basis. At the same time, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was compared with Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne.

To begin with, we counted how many players passed the very first test. Shinobi prosthesis received 97.82% of the players. But the achievement of «Gyobu Masataka Oniwa» was given only 76.04%. Even fewer players completed the first boss in Demon’s Souls: 60.9%. The «training» boss of Dark Souls was sent to the next world by 92.89% of the players, and 72.16% were able to defeat the first «real» boss.

As for the first serious challenge in Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, 67. 3% of the players coped with it. But the leadership in terms of the complexity of the entrance tests went to Bloodborne: only 49% killed the church monster.

The journalists chose the middle of the game as the next criterion. Of course, by eye: for example, in the case of Sekiro, the second meeting with Genichiro Ashina was considered the middle (60.15% of the winners). In the Dark Souls series, the arrival at Anor Londo and the fights with the bosses there were considered a turning point, and for Bloodborne, Rum, an idle spider, was chosen as such — only 30.4% coped with it. And, judging by the corresponding achievements, Sekiro is again not in the first place in terms of difficulty.

However, the final verdict must come from the finale. Journalists calculated the percentage of players who managed to get to at least one of the endings. In the case of Sekiro, the most popular ending was Breaking the Bonds of Immortality (16.7%), which in most cases went to those who simply acted on a whim. But the simple, but «negative» ending of «Sura» opened only 10.9%.

Game completion trophies received:

• Demon’s Souls — 20.2%;
• Dark Souls — 28% and 19.2%;
• Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin — 31.6%;
• Dark Souls 3 — 29.7%, 22.6%, and 17.8%.

Characteristic numbers turned out in the case of Bloodborne. As we remember, only half of the players defeated the first boss. But 30.4% made it to the middle, and 24.1% saw the final. This suggests that those who decided to go to the end after the first failures, in the majority, put their decision into practice. As for Sekiro, the opposite is true. At first, the game leads against the background of its predecessors, but on the way from Genichiro to the final, about 40% of the hunters dropped out.

Finally, the percentage of players who have received absolutely all game achievements. «Platinum» in FromSoftware games managed to earn:

• Demon’s Souls — 3. 7%;
• Dark Souls — 6.2%;
• Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin — 4.5%;
• Dark Souls III — 4.9%;
• Bloodborne — 5.7%;
• Sekiro — 6.2%.

Calculations based on game achievements are very approximate. They show that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is indeed the hardest of FromSoftware games, at least in the second half. But the reasons for the mass dropout of players may be different. For example, they could simply become bored.

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Shadows Die Twice. Tips for Getting Started — Gambling Addiction

While Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice departed a lot from the genre standards set by Dark Souls , it can’t be called any less challenging. Even the most experienced fans of the souls series can get stuck on the first boss, and the reason lies not only in new enemies and mechanics — the approach to passing has noticeably changed. If they usually joke about Dark Souls that the most important skill there is a roll, then there is simply no such “most important skill” in Sekiro. There is only one requirement for the player: to hone all your skills to the ideal.

Our advice is for everyone who wants to spend as little time and nerves on it as possible and spend the first hours in the game with maximum benefit.

Buy game | Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Launch Center

Stealth Mechanics

Before we start talking about the combat system, let’s give the first and most important advice: if there is a chance not to fight at all, be sure to use it. Silent kills are one of the main shinobi techniques, and where they are not applicable, stealth allows you to at least start the fight on your own terms. The design of the locations is in every way conducive to stealth: almost every wall, house or tree can be climbed or jumped on a grappling hook. In addition, there are enough bushes at the levels, from which it is so convenient to attack unsuspecting enemies. You can also act in the classic manner of the assassins: climb the hill, and then jump down on the enemy from above and deliver a fatal blow. In addition, the game of hide and seek helps to inspect the location in advance, think over a plan of action and estimate the sequence of killing opponents. We do not recommend doing all this directly in battle.

A reasonable approach is to first study the location, memorize the routes of ordinary opponents, cut them all out without a sound, without spending a single drop of health, and only then go to the boss. You can even try to kill him in the same stealth way, if you can go from behind. True, this dirty trick does not always work. FromSoftware gave some bosses a unique feature — two or even three health bars. So you won’t be able to get rid of them with one blow.

If there are no bushes or hills nearby, you can always lean against the wall and the enemy won’t see you. The scheme «slashed with a katana, hid, repeated» in Sekiro will not work. Yes, you can run away from the next boss and sit somewhere higher until he calms down and leaves you behind. But as soon as the combat melody subsides, the enemy will return to normal mode and his health will be fully restored. Everything will have to start over.

Of particular importance to the stealth mechanic Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has sound. There are mountains of rubbish lying around at any location, starting with pottery and ending with bamboo deadwood, so carefully look under your feet. No, you won’t die in combat because you accidentally trip over a rock, but enemies (and especially bosses) have phenomenal hearing. They stepped on crunchy shards from some pot — instantly attracted attention. To get rid of this trouble for a while, use Gatiin’s candy — it drowns out sounds and hides your presence from opponents.

Death, fighting and concentration

The name of the project does not lie: in Shadows Die Twice you can «die twice», losing only half of the accumulated wealth and experience with each resurrection. So from the very beginning, try not to carry too much gold and leveling points with you — it’s better to use them right away. And before boss fights, it’s worth spending everything clean: both in order for the shinobi to be extremely effective in battle, and simply in order to avoid heavy losses (there is always a risk of dying not twice, but twenty). But if you really need to accumulate a large amount, you can still protect your savings: for this, the developers have added bags of gold to the game, which can be bought from merchants or simply found in the open world. With the help of these pouches, you convert coins that can be lost upon death into «fireproof» money that will simply lie in your inventory until needed.

At the very beginning, the game will greatly discourage you, setting you up against an obviously invincible opponent

The combat system in Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice has changed quite a lot compared to other games FromSoftware . Usually it’s like: hit, roll, hit again — and repeat until the boss falls. Now it has become much more difficult to defeat the enemy with simple clicks with rolls. Blame it all — concentration, replacing the usual endurance. Each enemy has one more, already yellow, added to the red health bar, and it must not be emptied, but, on the contrary, filled. Each successful attack or well-timed block wears down the enemy a little, and when the bar of his concentration is filled to the limit, he will be opened for a fatal blow. Then the enemy can be beautifully destroyed in one move — regardless of how much health he had left.

The problem is that the Wolf has the same yellow bar, and it works according to the same rules: it fills up from each mistake in battle. If the concentration is exhausted to zero, the shinobi himself will become the object of reprisal. And the speed of recovery of concentration (both for you and for the enemy) directly depends on the level of health: the more you are injured, the slower it returns. But now there is no need to rest between series of blows — you can swing the sword even to infinity.

Thanks to this system, it turns out that there are two ways to kill any enemy: either demolish his health in the old fashioned way, or try to deplete concentration by skillfully combining attack with defense. The first option is much simpler, but longer and more dreary — suitable for those who are still on the “you” with the parry system or do not want to take risks once again. The second one is much faster and more efficient, but also more dangerous for the player himself. Wrongly carried out a couple of tricks, missed the necessary timings — and they themselves were left without concentration.

For those who have not yet fully mastered the new combat system, it is best to combine approaches: first, demolish some of the health so that the enemy’s concentration is restored more slowly, and then go practice fencing techniques on him. And certainly it will not be possible to go through the whole game, simply by calling out opponents and leaving the blow in time. In any case, you will have to learn more complex tricks: some of the bosses and mini-bosses are simply impossible to kill without this.

Local birds are a real danger to player

The best example is the samurai, whose fighting technique is very similar to that of the Wolf himself. With large enemies it is easier: they are clumsy, it is not so difficult to go behind them. Other samurai or shinobi hunters, on the other hand, move as fast as you and attack just as inventively. Therefore, with them, special emphasis should be placed on fencing. The most productive tactic is to block more often than to throw punches. And then there is the «Mikiri counterattack» — a very dangerous technique that blocks the enemy’s attack and reduces his concentration. True, and this is not a panacea: without a perfect sense of timing, the mikiri will not help in battle, but will set you up. A slightly safer option is to jump over the sweeps and kick in the air; it also reduces the concentration of the enemy quite well.

Try to parry all blows as early as possible. This skill is a kind of fuse: with successful parries, your concentration will not be broken even when it is completely depleted. With opponents attacking with a series of blows, it’s quite possible to catch the rhythm and parry almost with your eyes closed: it’s just that the sound of steel clanging differs depending on whether you fall into the parry window or not.

Tools

The prosthesis in Sekiro is a multifunctional thing: here you have a fire cannon, and an ax, and a grappling hook. True, in the early stages of the game they will not be allowed to use it much — except that you can fly as much as you like on the cat hook. To use the abilities of the prosthesis, you need a special resource — spirit emblems. They drop from defeated enemies, but you can go the simpler way: buy them from the carver’s idol, the local equivalent of a fire. At first there were only about fifteen emblems.

There are a lot of tools, but in order to open at least the main ones, you will have to carefully examine the starting location. The very first thing you get is a built-in shuriken, the most versatile gadget of all. Shurikens work great against wolves and any jumping opponents: they deal huge damage to enemies in the air and knock them to the ground. Shuriken consumes only one spirit emblem, so even with a small supply of them, it will be a serious help in battles with some bosses.

Don’t forget that Sekiro can always be paused to calmly think about tactics and choose the right items.

Another equally useful prosthesis is the Shinobi Axe. Firstly, the damage from the ax is significantly higher than from normal attacks, especially at the beginning of the passage. In addition, there are, for example, opponents with wooden shields. Attacking these guys head-on is pointless. And, in order not to start another circus with rifts and attempts to go behind your back, it’s better to simply get an ax: it splits shields with one blow. And at the same time deprives enemies of a noticeable share of concentration or simply stuns. But throwing an ax at any opponent is also not worth it: it’s still a situational thing. It is convenient for them to crush small fry with shields or finish off mini-bosses, but it can be dangerous to meddle with someone more «fat» and agile. The ax is heavy and its attack animation lasts much longer than the katana. Sometimes it is better to land a sure blow with a sword than not have time to dodge and lose health points.

If suddenly you are pressed against the wall by several opponents at once, even ordinary ones, the Wolf will not be in trouble. In such a situation, «shinobi firecrackers» come in handy. In fact, these are crackers with flashes that temporarily blind and immobilize enemies. In addition, firecrackers reduce the concentration of all enemies in the area, and in combination with the «vortex attack» will help you get out of the trap. That’s just to stun opponents at long and even medium distances is unlikely to work: the range of firecrackers is small, but the sector of destruction is quite wide. This modification can simply be bought for 500 coins from one of the merchants.

Animals, by the way, are very afraid of firecrackers

Against especially evil mobs with burning red eyes, it is better to use not ordinary attacks, but a local analogue of the flamethrower, which works on the principle of the Igni sign from The Witcher 3 . But this modification is suitable not only for the red-eyed. You can also, for example, throw oil on the boss and set it on fire — while the enemy is on fire, the concentration is not restored. The main thing is not to forget that the area and range of influence of the tool is very small. Out of habit, you, most likely, will not even reach the enemy with fire.

Skills

What do you do if you don’t have spirit emblems for your prosthesis in the heat of battle? At a minimum, after another death, it is worth running to the dungeon of Ashina Castle and knocking out a ceremonial tango from the mini-boss there. Using it, you get temporary emblems in exchange for health points — similar to the mechanics of blood bullets in Bloodborne. Although a real shinobi is able to deal with enemies without additional gadgets. So that you can crush opponents with your bare hands (with a katana), martial arts are opened to you almost from the very beginning of the game.

In fact, these are active skills, each of which makes life a little easier on the battlefield. In each branch there are several tricks at once that can be pumped one after the other, but only one of them can be installed in the slot. By default, the basic set of skills is available, but additional skill books can be found as the game progresses.

After getting the first levels, it is worth pumping the whirlwind attack. She not only works great against a group of enemies, but also deals good damage even to fat bosses; Yes, and it costs a little, because it is located at the very beginning of the skill tree. Of the more expensive skills, Breath of Life: Holy is especially useful — it restores health every time you deal a killing blow to an enemy. The only catch is that the skill costs five levels, which is a lot to start with. In addition, you still need to get to it: it is located far from the first position in the skill tree. In total, to open Breath of Life: Light, you will have to fork out as many as eight levels.

Diseases, medicine and alchemy

Accept that you will always die. This is perhaps the most correct attitude for a person who has launched Sekiro for the first time. Another thing is that here permanent deaths affect not only the main character, but also the game world as a whole. If you die and return too often, the surrounding NPCs will eventually become ill from the protagonist with «dragon fever». While they are sick, you cannot complete their story quests, which means you will have to heal them. The healer Emma from the Broken Temple will help with this: she needs to bring a sample of infected blood, and a little later return for a healing amulet. But in order to use it, you need to get a rare resource — the Divine Drop of Blood (you can either buy it or find it). But the ritual with this amulet heals not one, but all infected at once. Hooray, you can run quests again! At least until you die a dozen more times.

Dragonwind is also inconvenient for another reason: the higher the infestation, the lower the chance of not losing gold and experience after death. So instead of climbing on the rampage, think again: do you need it? In a hopeless situation, when it becomes clear that your skills and resources are definitely not enough to finish off the enemy, it is better not to fight to the last, but to retreat towards the nearest carver idol. And later return to battle with new forces — and, perhaps, even new tactics.

By the way, in order to die even a little less often, you need (unexpectedly!) To use a flask with medicine — the same estus from the Dark Souls series. Initially, you have only one such flask in your hands. You can increase the reserves in a very non-trivial way: by killing two mini-bosses (samurai) at the starting location. After defeating them, you will drop one pumpkin seed from each. They also need to be taken to Emma — she knows how to use them to increase the supply of «healers». In the future, the seeds will continue to fall from the defeated mini-bosses.

What else is worth paying attention to? Sekiro has a lot of all sorts of candies, balls of wealth and other seemingly useless items. In fact, of course, sooner or later almost everyone will come in handy. For example, some lollipops significantly reduce damage to the Wolf, while others, on the contrary, increase the effectiveness of his attacks. Wealth and Luck Orbs are great for farming on already familiar locations: the first increases the amount of gold dropped from enemies for a short time, the second gives more loot. But if you get one of the balls, do not rush to use it: the duration of their action is quite short. It is better to first go to an already completed level, kill all the enemies there, and only then apply the ball. So you can quickly run through the location and collect increased loot without too much risk.

In addition, some enemies have abilities that apply negative effects to you.