Sekiro Guide - Consequences of Dying & Dragonrot Disease detailed

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the latest game from FromSoftware where a lot of similarities can be seen from their previous work, the Soulsborn series.

[BlackShark001]

It's insane how difficult this game is. I know it's all about that Dark Souls and Bloodborne difficulty but this is on a whole other level. What an amazing game though.

[Thundercat77]

Difficult in a whole new way. Sometimes is just not fun at all. Good gae but the difficulty is ridiculous.

[Palitera]

100% agreed. The huge spikes in difficulty make it a much worse game, imo, since the difficulty almost always in the same way: ultra quick reaction. Rinse and repeat dozens of times.
Also, we always had multiple ways of playing. The lack of builds and customization now pushes us into only a few valid tactics.

Most people are just cheesing the bosses (dodge hit ad eternum) because lots of them are just ultra quick glorified quick time events.

In the end, we have a great game. Not nearly as good as their previous franchises though. Really hope they ditch it ASAP.

[Moe-Gunz]

You just have to change your mindset. In the beginning they forgive you for playing like it’s a souls game but continues to warn you to change up your approach because it won’t work forever. Eventually you simply can’t do the dodge attack dodge attack souls style.

People said the same thing when Bloodborne came out. They felt it was harder due to it being faster paced than the souls series.

[vallencer]

100% agree with this. I love the aesthetic and the combat even feels good when you get the deathblow but it's a punishing game more so than I believe it has to be. It's like they took tenchu and ratcheted up the difficulty of a souls game by 100. That's sekiro. Since I've stopped playing it like I would a souls game I've been doing better but there are still some things I don't like. Not a big fan of losing half of your exp and money when you die. I've had enemies track me when they're already in the middle of an attack and I hate that so much. The damage the enemies do in comparison to what you do to them is also insane. This game, at least to me, isn't as good as it could be because of the insane difficulty. Don't get me wrong I know that's the point and I can appreciate that but there are so many parts of this game that are done so well to only be marred by the difficulty.

That all being said I do have this love hate relationship with it and I enjoy parts of it a lot for what it's worth. Also the game makes me excited for if they ever do a tenchu game again. A tenchu game in this style minus the insane difficulty would be fantastic.

[Al_Simmons]

Good gae? Gatorade?

[PeaSFor]

I love how much everyone is freaking out, i usually find myself never running out of the material needed to cure dragonrot. Once it pops the first time i usually wait till there's around 3-4 before curing and at that pace I'm almost always in possession of at least 2.

But it's still definitely a better hollow, you're rewarded for keeping everyone healthy with higher chance to keep your stuff and you cant progress quests. When it comes to players they don't care about themselves but when you see how your actions are negatively effecting those around you it is definitely much more impactful.

[ArchangelMike]

Takes me back to Demon's Souls. That game was HAAARD! I don't think even Sekiro is as hard as Demon's Souls.

But there sado-masochist's out there and people who find pain fun. Personally I'm loving the game, it just takes a while to get into the grove of waiting for an opportunity to deflect and counter, instead of going in swords swinging all the time.

[seanpitt23]

I am stuck on the boss with the horse he just beats me everytime and the butterlfy lady.. I just can't progress any further until I beat them.. Going to try and beat the butterfly tonight I have more chance with her even though it's slim chance at best

[Vegamyster]

I think it's because you can't play it like there previous games, parrying is key to beating most of the enemies in an efficient manner, trying to dodge too much or holding block is far more punishing compared to there previous games.

[DrumBeat]

It's on a whole different level.

It's ALL about precision and reflex. Knowing at any moment when to hit, dodge, deflect or jump, and that's not an easy thing to do.

[DrumBeat]

Yeah, I'm still at the goddamn estate. Killed the mini boss with the spear. Not sure what's ahead but I needed a break after that.

[acekaze]

Run, run while you can, the final boss of the estate is true nightmare fuel, I spend 2 hours learning the fight

[Palitera]

^ At least that boss a different challenge...

[Al_Simmons]

LMAO, harder than bloodborne? NioH?

[DrumBeat]

Bloodborne and Nioh are a skip through the prairie compared to Sekiro. Literally, Sekiro makes Bloodborne and Nioh feel like you're skipping through a prairie, or eating ice cream.

[Kaze88]

I still got that dude ahead of me. Many of the enemies and some bosses have been fairly possible and beat them after couple tries, but this spear dude. "oh you didnt jump at the right time, there goes 90% of your hp" and then he continues with a downward sweep that is unavoidable most of times due to the tracking of enemies. The tracking on these enemies at times is a joke. Better just to be on their face and try to counter everything. Tho some enemies posture is solid as a rock, even deflecting 90% of the attacks barely do any posture damage. Then you just need to start trying diff tools and strategies if they work.

I like the mechanics of the game, but like on the start you get one gulp of estus and it barely heals 30% and most enemies hit 40-60% of your health in one hit. So it's like two or one mistake and you're dead. So they kinda make the player use the revive mechanic, don't know it makes the dragonrot faster or not but you still get dragonrot even if you don't use the revive system. Also I love that they showed the mechanic on trailers that you can sneak on your enemy after revive, that's impossible since they will always hear you reviving yourself lmao.

[AK91]

Yes but that's been kinda the point of Miyazaki games, each new game he personally makes is harder than the last.

[dannite86]

When your killed by chickens you know it's on a totally different level.

[ArchangelMike]

Tell me about it! I had to order me some spicy jumbo chicken wings after that just to make myself feel better :)

[joab777]

You are having the same issue I was having until I MADE myself realize this is NOT a Souls game. You cannot stay back and dance and dodge. You have to block and stay in their face and break the posture. Once you make yourself understand this, it will become a whole lot easier.

I died like so many times trying the old way.

Also, you get Dragonrot from dying, not reviving like every single person online is stating.

[Kaze88]

"Also, you get Dragonrot from dying, not reviving like every single person online is stating."

THIS! Everyone is stating that, but even if you just die on a single occasion you will still trigger dragonrot. I was trying to play the game without using the revive mechanic and I got already 8 dragonrots lmao

[ArchangelMike]

Here's the thing that I found out about the leveling skills system in the game. You have to grind certias areas so you can improve your level and then spend those points on getting new skills. The sooner you get the skill where you regain some life by executing a deathblow, the easier the game becomes... if by only by a little bit.

[Thundercat77]

You have to explain that there are 2 resurrections. Resurrection by the screen option doesn't cause the penalty. Resurrecting in the sculpture temple after really dying is what cause the penalty which I totally find unnessesary, ridiculous and not fun.

[Cikatriz_ESP]

There’s conflicting information on how the death/resurrection system works all over the internet. However it works, it’s a bad system. Instead of dying, learning from my mistakes and trying again, I’m motivated to look up boss strategies online to prevent further losses.

Not only am I not getting better, but the game actively becomes harder for me than for someone who’s already pretty good. The system doesn’t benefit anyone, not even the Souls veterans who claim to enjoy how hardcore it is just to stroke their masochistic egos.

[ArchangelMike]

I think you might be approaching progression in the game from the wrong angle. I think alot of people are completely ignoring the skill system and how you have to level up your skills, and acquire new skill to make your progress easier.

Spend time in an area, just farming your skills - don't rush to go fight that boss. Just spend time getting your exp up to level 3 or 4 then bank those points and purchase skill upgrades. Primarily save up your exp points (it means going back to the last buddha often, especially whenever you have no more resurrections left - this ensures you don't die and lose the exp that your're storing up) and get the Breath of Life skill where you get back a little bit of life when you execute a death blow.

Then save up exp for Emma's Medicine Potency upgrades so your estus recovers much more life. Get youself prepped and ready, before progressing to that boss. You might also need to farm for oil, to use with you flame arm, or farm healing pellets etc etc. The point is, don't think you can simply walk up to a boss unprepared. You have to be prepared with both unlocked skills and support items. That's how "the system" is designed to work. You have to work within that system to become more succesfull.

[AK91]

Man it sucks dying causes after effects to the NPC's, kinda liked in past games where only you pay the consequences for your own failure.

[Palitera]

In Demon’s Souls you shifted the world tendency. It was a very nice mechanic, since some events and items only triggered in certain conditions.
Until we know the extent of the Dragon Rot mechanic, we can’t really evaluate it.

If it’s how I know this far (few bosses in), it changes a total of nothing at all.

[SpinalRemains138]

It will be understood eventually. I was one of the original guinea pigs in Demons' Souls before any wiki existed and it was brutal. Truly brutal. Like that game though, eventually the disease and all its nuance will be understood.

I am only on the Drunkard now and I am tempted to start over so I can clean my dragonrot slate and have less deaths.

[Palitera]

Agreed, Spinal. Slowly the community will figure out / make up the craziest theories.

I wouldn’t start over if I were you. You’re pretty early into the game and you’ll still die a lot, mostly to bosses. I had to start over (accidentally killed the first vendor) and it was nice to play “easy mode” through the well know content. Once it was over, all the difficulty came back.

[ArchangelMike]

Dragon rot locks out some side quests, vendor options etc (as the NPC will be too sick and coughing) For example the sculptor does'nt upgrade your weapon when he has dragon rot either.

As I understand it, Dragon Rot also plays a part in which ending of the game you get. I assume if critical NPC's have dragon rot at he end of the game it will affect the story.

p.s. I loved Demon's Souls. And I remember having a black world tendency. I don't think I was ever able to complete that game.

[DrumBeat]

The combat isn't as difficult as the seemingly random nature of the game. I think I'm in the clear - that I got something's attack patterns down. Nope. You 'think' you dodged, but nope, you're about to get slammed.

It's a good game but goddamn if doesn't drive me crazy sometimes.

[Cikatriz_ESP]

There was one boss that seemed so resistant to my strategies that I eventually resorted to hanging from the ledge below him and slashing at his feet for three or four minutes until his posture broke. I’m sure I could’ve gotten his patterns down with time, but the way the game discourages trial and error I felt justified in relying on the cheapest available tactics.

[ArchangelMike]

I think some of the hit boxes are way off. The Ogre for example. SO many times I clearly jumped or dodged out of the way and then magically get pulled back into is grab attack. There are other animations (like with the fire arrows) where I have clearly side stepped, but the arrow still stes me aflame.

So yeah I agree that some of the hit boxes may be out of alignement.

[DrumBeat]

The ogre's tackle and slam were like a tractor beam. I killed him just by cutting and running.

[l33t_haxx0r]

So far this game is hard but also awesome

[Cikatriz_ESP]

I’m loving it, despite my many complaints. The worldbuilding is remarkable, the characters are interesting and memorable, the level design is some of the best in the industry, and overall it just oozes personality.

[Al_Simmons]

I watched some lame named sodapoopa on twitch play this and he did awful when he went up against a cursed monk. Which scared me even more...Lol, Not sure when I'll pick this up. Wish there was a demo or I could rent it, first. #Sheesh

[ArchangelMike]

Just jump in. You'll love it. Ond word of advice though... take your time in an area and level up your skills. Don't try and rush through it, as you'll only end up facing a boss that you're unprepared for. That's the mistake most people are making. Oh, and also trying to play the game like Dark Souls.

Best feature in this game is the combat training arena - where you can practice all your moves step by step, and in free combat. Spend as much time just practicing in there before you step out into the world. Most people just skipped that part as well because they couldn't be bothered to spend time learning the combat - and then promptly got their asses handed bak to them :))

[Last_Boss]

I think the game is challenging. The counter tactics for combat are superb. The only grip I have is, when enemies spot you and they all track you through a wall and way out of field of vision. That makes it feel like stealth is not not need almost.

[SpinalRemains138]

It's more needed. Don't let them ever see you.

[BadElf]

I cant get anything going with the spear enemy mini boss. At the first place u travel to with bead..

Red icons mean you can block or "mirri counter"?( i unlocked it...just havent been able to do it).
Green icon means press A to jump?