Sekiro Shadows Die Twice Samurai General Guide
Survey the large area past the gatehouse, and you’ll spot your first mini-boss in this area Samurai General Naomori Kawarada. Consider him to be an even more powerful version of the Samurai Leader. He can deal a ton of damage, and in addition to his huge striking attacks, he will use “Perilous Attacks”
These attacks are foreshadowed by a red danger sign appearing, which means this enemy will attack in one of several ways: A powerful thrust attack that cannot be blocked normally – but can be deflected if timed properly. He may pull his sword to his side and unleash a wide thrusting attack that cannot be blocked – but can be jumped over, and you can press jump again to kick down on his face for a jumping attack. If he manages to break your posture, he may also try to take advantage of stunning you by trying to for an unblockable grab – quickly dodge backwards to get out of reach.
Like the Samurai Leader, you’ll need to be good with watching his moves and deflecting before following up with your own attacks, but then being ready to get away from his perilous attacks, or try to interrupt his thrust or sweep attacks with a quick strike. He may also follow up combo attacks with a leaping slash – which you can either try dodging, or loose a quick shuriken to deal more posture damage.
Remember that he has two Deathblow counters you’ll need to punch through – and lowering his health first will make breaking his posture meter easier. If you see him back off and start posing with a green aura, quickly press the attack, or he’ll heal some of his Posture damage. Two can play at that game – as you can also use one of the sugars to give yourself an offensive or defensive boost.
If you run into problems – know that you can actually sneak around behind him to begin the battle with a Stealth Deathblow, effectively giving him only one health bar when the battle really starts. Unfortunately, he’s pretty keen on spotting you if you resurrect when his back is turned, so you’ll only get one free shot.
While it’s true you can bypass the Samurai General entirely, it’s worth your while to engage him. Defeating him will yield a Prayer Bead – one of four needed to increase your own Health and Posture. He’ll also drop a Gourd Seed, and you can return to Emma an infuse your Healing Gourd with an additional charge! Before heading back, be sure to grab the Fistful of Ash near the gate leading onward.
Note: Undying Hanbei now has new training exercises for you, so you can train against new perilous attacks and learn how to counter them.
Returning to where you fought the Samurai General, hop up to the top of the gate cautiously. This next area is full of many wandering Soldiers: two swordsman wander the main path – one of which heads up some stairs on the right to another soldier standing guard by a tall watchtower. A Rifleman waits on the left behind a wall, and another is stationed on the second story of the broken building in the middle of the area.
It’s best to try and take out a few using Stealth Deathblows, or otherwise engage them individually – and make sure to take out the Rifleman first or stay out of his line of sight. Be sure to check the destroyed room the Rifleman is in to find a Ceramic Shard, then check the roof for a nest with a Small Coin Purse, and the bottom floor with a Mibu Balloon of Wealth. As you find Mibu Balloons, you can use them as temporary bonuses to collect more rewards than usual.
As you near the middle house, three more Soldiers will start patrolling up the path from the area below – so be wary not to get surrounded by them.
Similarly, if you get above the two soldiers by the watchtower, you can eavesdrop on them talking about the war – and after killing them, you must take care when traveling down below this ledge – a large mallet-wielding Taro Troop Brute from emerge from behind a corner.
This Taro Troop Brute is not a mini-boss, but he does boast a lot of Vitality and Posture. This means you’ll need to wear him out a bit with deflections or dodges followed by counterattacks. Even when his Posture reaches the breaking point, it will still take more blows before you can finally finish him. However, if you’re clever, you can spy on him from near the watchtower and drop down from above to kill the Brute instantly with a Stealth Deathblow.
Moving to the other side of the ruined building the Rifleman was in, look for a small path going past where the other Rifleman was posted at, and follow it to find a gorge with a lower platform, allowing you to bypass the main road if you wish. At the very least, drop down to the bottom to find Gachiin’s Sugar to help increase your stealth.
Before moving on, head onto the branch over the gorge and look up to the left – and you should spy a small ledge out of reach. If you return to the gatehouse where you found the Shuriken Wheel, move to the cliff above it and look down – and you should spot the ledge you can drop down to (it will only take a bit off your health). Down here is a small cave where you can find a Bundled Jizo Statue – which you can use to get a node of Ressurective Power back without having to replenish a node with Deathblows.
Once you reach the lowest level of this large open area, you’ll find another broken house and the sound of a bell chime. Inside the house is an old woman – and speaking to her, she thinks your her son. Play along (or don’t), and she’ll give you the Young Lord’s Bell Charm – and ask you to offer it to Buddha. This is a very important item – but more on that later. Nearby you can find a wounded man who just happens to be the woman’s son, Inosuke Nogami – who will point you to his mother if you haven’t already spoken with her.
Be sure to also check the bottom of house for bushes that hide several Giant Chickens, and a hidden basement passage that you can break open and sneak into holds 3 Light Coin Purse. Before moving on, you may have been hearing the noise of several crows. In fact, from the top of the first building, you can see many of them gathered on a high plateau nearby. Circle the plateau and look for a root to grapple up on the far side near the ruined house with the old woman, and you’ll find a merchant up here.
The Memorial Mob can be found wherever death is present, and they offer wares to present to the dead (which means items to buy!). Speak with the Crow’s Bed Memorial Mob, and stock up on Pellets if you need to – but also note the one expensive item they sell – Robert’s Firecrackers. This pricey trinket can be turned into a Prosthetic Tool, so be sure to save up for it. Also note that they sell Light Coin Purses for 10 Sen more than they give – meaning you can actually bank money if you’re afraid of losing money on death.
From the Memorial Mob’s vantage point, gaze down along the next gate path. The first small gate has a Soldier patrolling it, with three more by the second sealed gate. However your biggest problem is a the man atop the gate. This Cannoneer holds a large mortar-like weapon that he can fire with great range to deal incredible damage. This, coupled with the fact that Grappling up to his position lets him smack you with his giant cannon, makes a frontal assault very unwise.
Instead, take the path along the ledge to the left of the gates by the canyon. This way you can remain unseen, jump in behind him, and take him out without him ever firing a shot, and then take out the crowd of Soldiers below with drop attacks. Be sure to also check behind the sealed gate for a Pellet.
Back where the Cannoneer was, head to the ledge and look down at the valley below. A nearby outcropping has a tree you can grapple down to, and the ledge below hides some valuables – two Mibu Possession Balloon and some Spirit Emblems. Head around the path to find another Grapple point and some… giant snakeskin? Grapple over to the next platform to find some Scrap Iron. Items like these can eventually be used to upgrade your Prosthetic Tools into new deadly forms. From here you can either grapple back up to the gate, or sidle along the bottom to go further up the path from the bottom.
