Genichiro Ashina is arguably either the toughest or the easiest boss in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. How is that possible you might ask? This boss is the hardest to read and predict making it an extremely challenging fight until you figure out his trick. From that point onwards, it is going to be smooth sailing.
We are not going to lie that you will get through this fight on your first try. You are going die a fair bit. Probably even give up. That is why we are here with all the information you could need to understand and defeat this mighty warrior, Genichiro Ashina, in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice.
Fighting Genichiro Ashina
As mentioned before, Genichiro Ashina is a formidable foe with a moveset quite similar to yours. He is quick, stands his ground firmly, can parry you well, and has tons of health to tank many of your hits without breaking a sweat.
This samurai-esque boss wields not only a katana but combines it with a bow and arrows. If you get too much into his face, he will find a way to kick you back a few steps or punish you for being aggressive. That is why you always need to take calculated risks because they have the highest payoff.
The barbaric swing & slam playstyle will not work against Genichiro. You must learn his moveset and also figure out the timing of his attacks as well as his counters. His posture is not easy to break by any means but that is what we will be focusing on. If you are aiming to defeat him by depleting his vitality, good luck with that. In short, he is going to be the true test of your abilities.
With that said, he is not immortal and there are ways to take him down. Here are some tips to help you along the way:
- Bring as many Gourds to heal yourself as you can but don’t use them too early. Every next phase is harder than the last one so use your healings wisely.
- Firecrackers are something to throw Genichiro off for a second and give you a chance to hit back.
- Mikiri Counter is the single most crucial skill you need if you want to easily win this fight.
- There are three skills; Shinobi Eyes, Ascending Carp, and Descending Carp. Acquire these skills and the gain in posture damage will be even more significant.
- Be aggressive but stay ready to deflect any attack when you have to.
- If you want to heal, gain distance, and be ready to immediately dodge because Genichiro will shoot an arrow at you every time you heal.
Phase 1
After the sweet reunion cutscene, the fight will start and you have to assert dominance from the first moment. Get close and start attacking. It is going to take some practice to learn the art of perfect timing, but you follow this general rule: “Attack twice, then deflect”.
Attacking twice and then getting ready to deflect or counter is a strategy that worked best for us. There are going to be other variations for this but largely attacking twice and expecting a counterattack is what the sweet spot is.
Now come the perilous attacks. We are going to tell you a few signs to look out for that will help you counter these attacks every time. Thrust attacks Genichiro’s favorite type of attack. He will jump up, the Kanji symbol will appear, and the moment it disappears, spam the button for Mikiri Counter.
Might take some getting used to but perfect this technique and there will be no more second tries. Now there are three types of perilous attacks. One is the Thrust then there is the grab and the last one is the sweep attack. There are giveaways for each one.
After the Kanji symbol appears, Genichiro Ashina’s sword is going to glow. If there is a glow near the ground, it means that the thrust is coming, and if the glow travels upward, that means he is going to do the sweep attack. If Genichiro runs towards you after the attack symbol appears that means he is likely going to do the grab attack.
Counter the Thrust with Mikir Counter, Sweep by first jumping up then using the Mikir Counter, and the Grab Attack by simply jumping backwards. Deflect all of his bow shots, and also, if you are up close, attack him while he is pulling out his bow.
The rest of the fight is going to work out with practice and patience. Hit him for vitality to slow down his posture recovery. Keep the aggression on him. You will eventually land your first death blow.
Moveset
The might Genichiro Ashina in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice will use the following attacks in the first phase of the fight:
- Charged Bow Shot: This usually comes while you are healing. If you are at a distance and try to heal, he will shoot a charged arrow at you.
- Reaction: Move to either side as you are healing. You have a split-second window or else you will take a lot of damage.
- Jump Arrow Flurry: He will jump up and shoot four consecutive shots of an arrow towards you. Three right after each other and the fourth one with a slight delay.
- Reaction: Can easily deflect all four of them if they are timed right.
- Floating Passage: A flurry of multiple attacks with the sword, all of which come in quick succession. There is another variation of this attack that ends with a bow attack.
- Reaction: Deflect all of them for high posture damage. Even the arrow can be deflected if you get the timing right.
- Bow & Sword Combo: Genichiro will fire one or two arrows at you and then immediately run toward you to do a rolling sword attack.
- Reaction: Deflect the arrows and then roll back to avoid the final attack.
- Slash & Kick: After a slash attack is parried, Genichiro will try to back-kick you and send you flying.
- Reaction: Do not parry or block this one. Avoid it and save yourself.
- Thrust Attack: This is one of the perilous attacks. Genichiro will jump into the air and then follow it up with a sword thrust.
- Reaction: Use Mikiri Counter right after the Kanji Symbol disappears and you see the sword glow.
- Sweep Attack: This one is similar to the Thrust attack but after the jump, the boss will do a 360 sweep attack near your legs.
- Reaction: Jump into the air as soon as you see the sword glow travel upwards. Follow it up with a head kick.
- Grab Attack: Immediately after shooting a single arrow at you, Genichiro will run towards you and try to do a grab attack.
- Reaction: Jump backward when you see him running towards you.
Phase 2
Phase two of the Genichiro Ashina fight in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is largely similar to the first one. It starts immediately after the first phase without pause. All of the attacks, the aggression, and everything else remain the same.
The only thing that is slightly different in this phase is that during the first phase, he prefers the Thrust attack more, and during the second he tends to lean toward the sweep attack. There is no exclusivity but generally, this is a trend that we observed during our playthrough.
Moveset
The moveset for the phase one and two remains the same.
Phase 3
You thought you were done after the first two phases, while it may seem like it, that’s not all. Genichiro Ashina somehow resurrects and that too with more powers. He carries much more aggression in his attacks and also has the power of lightning.
He will use lightning attacks often in this phase. You can throw those attacks right back at him using the Lightning Reversal Technique. The moment he uses the lightning attack jumps up and presses the trigger for an attack.
This will throw the lightning attack back at him, dealing both Vitality and Posture damage. This will also stun him for a few seconds. If you are in the vicinity, make sure to land some strikes. He will no longer use arrows to interrupt your healing, instead, he dives at you with his sword.
Use the same strategy to sidestep while you are healing because the attack is coming for sure. Remember the thing about aggression? Yeah, forget that and be as aggressive in this phase as you possibly can.
The rest of the attacks remain the same and so does the counter for each one. It is about time you put an end to this long arduous battle.
Moveset
While most of the attacks remain the same for this fight, there are a few new tricks up Genichiro’s sleeve that we are going to reveal:
- Sword Dive: When you are healing, Genichiro will dive at you with his sword.
- Reaction: If you are done healing, use Mikiri Counter to punish his attack.
- Slam and Slash: This is a combo attack that starts with a jump and sword slam. This is quickly followed up with an upward slash.
- Reaction: Wait for the attack to pass by taking a few steps back the counter the follow up with Mikiri Counter for a lot of Posture Damage.
- Electric Slash: Genichiro will jump into the air and emit a lightning wave from his sword.
- Reaction: Immediately jump into the air and counter it using lightning reversal.
- Electric Slam: Similar to the slash attack but instead of a slash, the lightning comes downwards.
- Reaction: Counter it the same way you countered the slash. Jump up and use Lightning Reversal.
How to Cheese Genichiro Ashina in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
Let’s get this straight. There is no easy way to defeat Genishiro Ashina in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. You can only get this fight by understanding the mechanics and countering them. Although there is an exploit that is a hit or miss and that depends on how well you can learn the pattern.
Right at the back of the arena, there is a small space between an open door and an armored statue. Lure Genichiro there and jump up and forward to trap him there. Now start spamming him with attacks but also deflect the ones he does.
If you get the pattern right, Genichiro will not be able to do any attacks other than simple swipes and slashes. You will bury him between these two doors. You can also use Firecrackers if he tries to use a combo attack. This method only works for the first two phases of the fight. In the third phase, you have you deal with it normally.
Rewards For Defeating Genichiro Ashina
Finally, you have worked hard to take this beastly warrior down and now you shall reap the following reward:
- Memory: Genichiro
- Bloodsmoke Ninjutsu
- 2000 XP