Sekiro boss guide: How to easily defeat the True Monk

Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is home to some of the best and most challenging bosses FromSoftware has ever created, including the likes of Isshin, the Sword Saint, Inner Genichiro, Owl (Father), Demon of Hatred, and the Corrupted Monk. Showing up pretty early as an apparition in Mibu Village, the Corrupted Monk is among the most engaging boss fights in the game.

While the apparition form of the boss is quite easy to deal with, given it only has a single healthbar and a fairly limited pool of attack types, that isn’t the case for its true form, aptly named the True Monk.

Guarding the path to the Fountainhead Palace, the True Monk is easily one of the toughest bosses in the title, only surpassed by Owl and Isshin. Fortunately, if you play your cards right, you can easily defeat it without taking much or any damage whatsoever.

Here's a comprehensive guide on how to easily defeat the True Monk in Sekrio Shadows Die Twice.

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How to easily defeat the True Monk (Corrupted Monk) in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice?

The True Monk is among the few bosses in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice with three phases, complete with new movesets, strengths, and weaknesses. Demon of Hatred, Isshin, the Sword Saint, and Genichiro (Way of Tomoe) are the only other bosses in the game, apart from True Monk that feature three phases, with new attacks.

Recommended loadout for the True Monk in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice (Image via FromSoftware)

While the three healthbars are definitely quite intimidating, what makes the True Monk even more challenging is its resistance against stagger and melee damage. To top it all off, the boss gets the ability to inflict "terror" status in its third phase, which can kill you instantly if not quelled.

Thankfully, there's an easy way to essentially bypass the final two phases of the True Monk, making the boss fight a cakewalk.

The first thing to remember before going into this fight is that you must have a proper loadout, since, unlike Isshin, True Monk can be "cheesed" a bit with the use of Shinobi Prosthesis and tools.

That being said, here are some tips that should help you easily defeat the True Monk in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice:

• The most important tools required for the boss fight are Long Spark and Fistful of Ash. Both will come in handy to get past the final phase of the boss fight.
• The first phase needs to be fought traditionally: by deflecting the Monk's heavy attacks, using the Mikiri counter, and dealing damage via melee attacks. The first phase is fairly simple and comprises the same movesets as the apparition variant of the boss.
• Do note that True Monk has a higher stagger threshold, and it will take longer to break the boss' posture than its apparition variant.
• Once you deal with the first phase, immediately grapple up to the tree on top and crouch. If you time your grapple right, the Monk won't find you, allowing you to deal an immediate deathblow, skipping the entire phase.
• Once you reach teh third phase, the Monk now gains the ability to use "terror," which it mixes with some of its combos, making it harder to dodge. Using Long Spark and Fistful of Ash, you can basically "cheese" the third phase before the Monk can even hit you.
• Equip the Fistful of Ash and throw it on the Monk, this will stagger the boss momentarily allowing you to sneak in a couple of hits. After attacking twice, immediately throw another Fistful of Ash and repeat this process until you run out of the resource.
• After you run out of Fistful of Ash, repeat the same process but with Long Spark Prosthetic.

If you do the final step right, you will be able to deplete the Monk's posture long before you run out of Spirit Emblems. You can speed up the process by using either Yashariku's or Ako's Sugar. However, make sure to use the buff at a safe distance from the boss to avoid getting hit by its jumping attack or ground sweep combo.

You can use Ako's Sugar to speed up the final phase of the True Monk in Sekiro (Image via FromSoftware)

Defeating the True Monk unlocks the path to Fountainhead Palace, which is the last region you get to explore before reaching the finale of Sekiro's story.