When going for the Purification ending in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, you revisit the Hirata Estate only to come face to face with Owl (Father), again! The name change is not just thematic, it is a foreshadowing of his true potential, the one from whom you learned everything. This is a much more challenging iteration of the boss compared to your previous faceoff.
You must bring your A-game to this fight to finally show Dad you surpassed his training!
Fighting Owl (Father) in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
The fight against Owl (Father) is pretty much the same as before; however, he has few attacks and enhanced ferocity to match the finality of the game. And to top it off, he has a spirit owl!
Owl is a shinobi like you and thus uses many of the same kinds of attacks as you. This means he has shurikens, firecrackers, running slashes, repositioning techniques, and quick maneuvering.
He performs a couple of combat arts that you can unlock too. Additionally, his posture meter recovers at an incredible pace forcing you to be extremely aggressive and in his face to make any dent in this fight.
In the second phase, he adds new attacks to his repertoire and summons a spirit owl to aid him during this fight. The owl brings with it a new set of challenges which we will cover in the next section.
You must approach this fight as a seasoned shinobi, able to use your sharp-as-a-wolf fang techniques to best the Owl.
Here are some tips and tricks that can aid you in this battle:
- Do not use any thrust attack against him. He will use the Mikiri counter on you if you do so. The resulting counterattack can spell life-ending.
- Ako’s Sugar will help deal extra posture damage.
- Mortal Draw deals direct damage to his health if you are going for an HP kill.
- You can use the enemy next to the Idol to trigger the Bestowal Ninjutsu. The extended reach of this combat art will stretch out your attacks when he tries to distance himself from you.
- None of the Prosthetic Tools are effective against this boss. Rely on your melee combat skills for the most part.
Phase 1 & 2 Boss Strategy
To make both the phases of Owl (Father) easy to manage you must use a single strategy. Keep the boss at a distance and bait him into performing either of these three attacks; Charging Slash, Shuriken to Charging Slash, or Shadowfall thrust. Equip Ichimonji: Double to expedite the fight, Mortal Draw works better.
All of these attacks can be dodged reliably, opening up a window to put some heavy damage in. For each of the attack, you must do the following:
- Charging Slash: Jump to the back left side as he slashes and land right beside him when he stops. Use the Double Ichimonji as he charges up the overhead slam, dodge to the right as his blade falls, and perform a double Mortal Draw. This takes away a huge chunk of his health every time.
- Shuriken to Charging Slash: React the same as before.
- Shadowfall: Dodge into the thrust to Mikiri Counter it and then use Ichicmonji Double as he recovers.
Change up the defense game in the second phase when he starts using the owl attacks but the strategy stays the same effectively. Keep it up until he is executed.
Another tactic is to lock the boss in the same attack loop and deal damage consistently. As soon as the fight begins, wait for the Charging Slash to Overhead Slam. Jump Back when he slashes, go in for two hits, and wait for him to charge up his overhead slam, then evade right, followed by a two-hit Mortal Draw.
Now stick to him like glue and attack twice the dodge left, then attack twice the dodge left, and on and on. Most of his attacks after your two hits can be sidestepped to the left.
If he repositions himself then wait for the Charging Slash to Overhead Slam combo and continue to use the same tactic.
Adjust to the attacks in the second phase and wait for the same opening. The strategy remains the same in the next phase too.
Phase 1 Moveset
Listed below are all the moves Owl (Father) will use against you in the first phase and how you should react to them:
- Sword Hilt to Swipe to Firecracker: Nudges you back with his sword hilt followed by a wide sword swipe ending with him throwing gunpowder in a wide arc and then swinging his sword to explode them like your firecrackers. This explosion hurts.
- Reaction: As soon as you are pushed back, back off out of range of the explosion. Or if you can move behind then attack him while he is stuck in animation, extremely dangerous.
- Dual Shuriken to Leaping Slam: Throws shurikens twice at you then performs a flip in the air ending with a devastating overhead slam.
- Reaction: Deflect the shurikens then when he flips start tapping the block button when he is about to land to deflect. You can also move to the right side when he flips in the air to position yourself behind him and attack him after he lands.
- Shadowfall: Thrust towards you with his sword pointing out. If it connects, he jumps and performs two slashes.
- Reaction: Dodge into the thrust to Mikiri counter it.
- Shuriken to Charging Slash: Throws a shuriken then runs towards you and performs a sword slash.
- Reaction: Dodge to the side to ignore the shuriken then tap block when you see him charging at you.
- Perilous Swipe to Overhead Slam: Runs up to you sideways and performs a perilous swipe followed by a charged-up overhead slam after a bit of delay. If you move to his sides during the charge-up, he will instead use a horizontal slash.
- Reaction: Jump over the swipe then put two hits in while he is charging up the slam and then tap block to counter the slam.
- Backflip: He puts his foot on you and leaps backward.
- Reaction: Deflect the foot to mitigate posture damage.
- Firecracker: Throws a wide arc of black powder that explodes after a delay. He follows it up with either a shuriken throw, Shadowfall, or Shuriken Charge Slash.
- Reaction: Dodge backward to get out of range of the explosion then wait for the follow-up attack.
- Double Slash to Perilous Sweep: Slashes his sword twice then performs a grounded swipe, usually following it up with a charged overhead slam.
- Reaction: Deflect the initial slashes then jump as the Kanji appears over your head. Stick close to him and attack him twice while he charges the overhead slam then dodge right as the sword comes down.
- Charging Slash: Runs up to you and performs a single slash. He then goes on to perform either Double Slash to Perilous Sweep or a 5-hit version of the Sword Hilt to Swipe to Firecracker combo.
- Reaction: Block or deflect the charging slash then get ready to defend against the follow-up attack accordingly.
- Posture Break Grab: When you are posture-broken, he will run up to you and attempt to slam you down and then stab you while you are faceplanted. He can use this attack normally too and doesn’t need you to be posture-broken. This attack doesn’t flash the perilous attack kanji.
- Reaction: Spam dodge if you are posture broken to dodge away before he reaches you. For the regular attack, when you see him spin his foot around, dodge to the side or backward quickly.
Phase 2 Moveset
His attacks remain generally the same as before with a few new ones added to the mix. Listed below are all the new moves Owl Father will use against you in the second phase and how you should react to them:
- Backflip + Shirken: Backflips the same as before followed by 5 cone-shaped shuriken thrown in the air.
- Reaction: Deflect the leaping foot and then stand still and tap block to stop the shuriken.
- Vanishing Owl Slam: He will disappear into the spirit owl and then reappear over your head trying to land a slam attack.
- Reaction: Keep the spirit owl in your vision. The light underneath this owl will indicate the area where he will land so stay out of it. You can deflect this attack but it is harder to spot it.
- Owl Swipe to Shadowfall: Calls the spirit owl to his hand then fires it at you. The fired owl will be doused in fire and has a wide horizontal reach. He goes on to thrust at you with his sword in an attempt to execute Shadowfall.
- Reaction: Jump sideways over the owl as soon as it is fired. When you land and when the kanji appears, get ready to dodge into the thrust to Mikiri counter it.
Rewards for Defeating Owl (Father) in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
You unlock the following rewards for beating Owl Father in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice:
- Memory: Foster Father
- Aromatic Flower. A key item for the Purification ending.
- 10,000 XP