Sekiro boss guide: How to easily defeat Isshin the Sword Saint

Isshin the Sword Saint, the final boss of Sekiro's Purification, Immortal Seveerance, and Purification endings, is arguably the hardest boss fight FromSoftware has ever created. The boss fight not only has a major narrative significance to Sekiro's story but also serves as the perfect showcase of Sekiro's methodical and fascinating combat system.

You can't brute force your way through Isshin. Instead, to get a victory against this once-great samurai of the Ashina clan, you must master the game's combat system itself. Much like any other humanoid boss fight in Sekiro, the battle against Isshin is more of a dance, where one wrong move can turn into a fatal mistake.

However, like any other FromSoftware boss, Isshin can be defeated rather easily as long as you know when to strike and how to counter each of his attacks efficiently. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to easily defeat Isshin the Sword Saint in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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How to easily defeat Isshin the Sword Siant in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice?

In terms of difficulty, Sekiro's Isshin far surpasses the likes of Darkeater Midir, Orphan of Kos, Lady Maria, Artorias, Sister Friede, and perhaps, even Elden Ring's Malenia. The difficulty in the battle against Isshin doesn't only come from the amount of damage he deals but also his aggression and ability to chain multiple attacks in quick succession.

Recommended loadout for the Isshin boss fight in Sekiro (Image via FromSoftware)

Additionally, Isshin the Sword Saint is among the very few bosses in Sekiro that has three phases, with each phase featuring new attacks and abilities. The only other bosses that have three whole phases are Demon of Hatred and Genichiro (Way of Tomoe).

What's even more intimidating about the boss fight against Isshin is that you have to fight Genichiro every time before you even get to duke it out against the Ashina samurai. Thankfully, Genichiro only has a single health bar and isn't nearly as aggressive as the first time you fight him in the Ashina Castle.

Once you do reach Isshin, you'll immediately get overwhelmed with the number of attacks he has access to just in his first phase. However, there's a very easy way to bypass the phase, making the fight much easier. The most difficult part of this boss fight is the second phase, where Isshin receives a buff to his health and posture.

Here are a few tips that should help you easily defeat Isshin the Sword Saint in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice:

• Your loadout should include three things: Mortal Draw (Empowered Mortal Draw is preferred, but the standard version works just as well), Divine Confetti, and Ako's Sugar (Ako's Spiritfall is preferred).
• At the start of the boss fight, quickly use Ako's Sugar and Divine Confetti to get a temporary boost to your base attacks. Keep your distance from Isshin, and if necessary, hold the block button.
• Bait Isshin's Ashina Cross and Dragon Flash attacks, both of which have a fairly long telegraph and also recovery animation. It's during the recovery of these attacks that you will deal damage to the boss.
• After Isshin does his Ashina Arts attacks, go behind him quickly and use the Mortal Blade. Only do two attacks, as extending the attack will leave you vulnerable to Isshin's counterattack.
• Repeat this process of baiting Isshin's attacks and following up with Mortal Draw twice or thrice and you should easily get past the first phase. Also, during the downtime, keep on the defensive, block or deflect most of Isshin's attacks, and remember to use the Mikiri counter when the red Kanji sign appears on the screen.
• The second phase gets a bit tricky since your primary goal here won't be to deal health damage but posture damage to Isshin. You can get a headstart by using Mortal Draw right at the start of the second phase, but make sure to back away after the Mortal Draw animation to avoid getting hit by Isshin's spear.
• Priority for the second phase is to stay close to Isshin as much as you can, and not attack, but stick to only deflecting his attacks and using counterattacks to deal posture damage as fast as you can.
• The spear and sword combo is easy to counter as long as you don't panic and press deflect at the right time. However, avoiding the Perilous Sweep and Floating Passage attacks is what makes this phase challenging.
• The best way to avoid these attacks and counter them is to stay close to Isshin and jump (Only once. Don't double jump) right before the attack hits, and follow it up with two slashes, I found this quite effective in avoiding both Floating Passage and Perilous Sweep, while also dealing health and posture damage to the boss.
• The third phase is practically the same as the second phase but with a few new attacks. The first new attack is an improved version of Dragon Flash, which can either be dodged or deflected, and the Lighting Cleave, which much like Genichiro's Lightning Counter can easily stun you and also deal a ton of health damage.
• This phase is all about dealing health damage, and Lightning Counter is the best way to do it. Initiating a Lighting Counter is very easy, just time your jump a few moments after the Lighting Kanji appears on the screen and press the attack button immediately.

Mikiri counter is the key to getting an upper hand on Isshin in his second phase (Image via FromSoftware)

Defeating Isshin takes a lot of practice and perseverance, as such, the biggest tip I can give for this boss fight is to not get discouraged by defeat. As Isshin says, "Hesitation is defeat," if you hesitate to learn Sekiro's combat system and Isshin's moveset you will never win against him.