The Guardian Ape is one of the most memorable fights in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. This overgrown primate has insane speed and ferocity, keeping you always on your toes. To top it off, this boss fight has a diabolical surprise once you beat him so you better be prepared for what’s to come.
Do not worry; we will spill all the beans, so there is nothing that catches you off guard. Furthermore, some more tips and tricks make your fight against the Guardian Ape in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice even easier than you initially thought.
Fighting Guardian Ape
As you enter the arena, the Guardian Ape sits somberly guarding the cave with the Lotus of the Palace. As you approach him, he stands up and begins the fight of a lifetime. The boss seems hard as nails initially but once you learn its pattern, you’ll be amazed at how easy this battle is.
The boss is extremely agile, moving all over the arena and constantly creating distance from you. All this movement is usually followed by a slew of amazingly crafted sets of attack animations that stand apart from any other boss in the game.
His attack chains are long and pretty unpredictable (at first) but you’ll soon get the hang of it. He likes to use his hands to swipe, smash, jump, and even fart at you as part of his attacks.
When finally his posture breaks or his health is gone, you can finish him off with a Shinobi Execution, removing his head. You’ll see the screen flash with your accomplishment; however, you shouldn’t begin celebrating yet.
The decapitated monkey lifts himself back up grabbing his head in one and a sword in another. This transition signals the second phase and once where the boss completely changes the way he fights.
He still has his agility, but his movement becomes slithery, and he uses his sword for a totally different fighting style. His sword attacks have similar long combo chains but are much easier to parry if you get the timing right. Additionally, he periodically screams, causing a Terror buildup radius when you stand inside the circle.
Here are some tips and tricks that can aid you in this battle:
- In the first phase, the Shinobi Firecracker works incredibly well to stun the boss and even stop him mid-combo.
- Flame Vent coupled with Oil will easily set the boss ablaze. Especially helpful in phase one.
- You should equip the Loaded Spear for the second phase.
- The Loaded Umbrella’s Phoenix’s Lilac Umbrella upgrade helps negate his terror-building scream attack.
- The Mortal Draw Combat Art is a godsend during this engagement.
- Ako’s Sugar and/or Yashariku’s Sugar are helpful.
Phase 1
For the first phase of the fight, you must equip the Flame Vent Prosthetic Tool and Oil will only enhance its effect. The boss starts as a beast and hence is weak to fire damage. A well-timed Oil throw followed by the Flame Vent will set the boss on fire rendering him immobile for a few seconds, giving you enough time to put in a few hits.
The Firecrackers are great in this phase too. As with any other beast, this tool will completely stop him dead in his tracks, stunning him for a good enough time to deal some damage. Ako’s Sugar is also really good for dealing extra damage to his posture.
The best strategy before the fight is to buff yourself with Ako’s Sugar and Firecracker and then approach the boss. As soon as the fight begins, quickly start attacking and then use the firecracker to stun him. Now use the Mortal Draw Combat Art to quickly annihilate his posture. Effective use of this strategy might destroy his posture in the first attempt, ending the phase in a few seconds.
If you want to fight him normally, stay close to the boss and keep tapping the block button to parry most of his regular attacks. You only have to look out for his two grab attacks which can be bypassed if you jump at the right time. He likes to reposition a lot so you have to constantly cover the distance.
Avoid his backside, for he likes to fart at you, causing poison build-up. Additionally, if you distance yourself from him, he jumps in the air and throws a poisonous poop at you. Grab some Antidotes to alleviate yourself from this annoying status effect.
Keep attacking him between his long recovery animations and you are good to go. It is better to target his posture meter through parrying rather than finishing his HP. The sword in his neck can be used to grapple yourself close to him so watch out for the green grappling icon.
Execute him and move on to the next phase.
Moveset
Here are all the moves in phase one you must keep an eye out for and how you must react while fighting the Guardian Ape in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice:
- Sweep: Bury his right hand in the water and sweeps horizontally. The attack triggers the perilous attack sign over your head.
- Reaction: Jump over the swipe and attack in the air.
- Uppercut to Flailing Slams: Performs an uppercut then falls to the ground on his back and starts slamming his hands on each side.
- Reaction: The whole attack chain can be parried. Put some damage in while he recovers.
- Fart: Fires a poisonous cloud out of his butt.
- Reaction: Avoid his backside at all times.
- Poop Throw: Runs slightly towards you, puts his hand to his butt, jumps in the air, and hurls a poison-building poop ball.
- Reaction: Start running to a side and dodge as soon as the poop’s about to land.
- Two Swing Sit: Swings one hand after the other and sits down to take a breather. He can follow it up with a few slams and a reposition.
- Reaction: Parry both the swings and lay into him while he recovers.
- Grab: Similar to the sweep attack, this time he grabs you and deals a lethal blow.
- Reaction: Jump over the swipe to negate the attack.
- Slap Backstep: Quickly moves towards you followed by a slap and moves away.
- Reaction: Parry the slap.
- Reposition Slams: Sometimes he backs away while slamming his arm twice.
- Reaction: Parry the slams and run towards him.
- 2/3 Hit Combo: He can perform a two or three-hit combo when you are near him. He can chain it into a 5-hit massive combo with a two-handed slam at the end that can easily end you.
- Reaction: Parry!
- Leaping Grab: A short leap followed by a double-hand grab.
- Reaction: Dodge to the side or jump at the nick of time. Dodging is more safe.
Phase 2
Do not let this first victory get to your head. The boss has a surprise phase two. This time around, his moveset is completely revamped. The headless primate uses his sword to cut you down a peg instead of relying on his hands.
The boss has a unique wavey movement and attacks to boot. Nevertheless, the attacks in this phase are much more telegraphed and are easier to deflect. You only need to worry about the Terror-inducing scream for which you can simply run out of the radius.
For this phase, bring out the Loaded Spear Prosthetic Tool which we shall use at a particular point in the fight. Furthermore, it is best to maintain a medium range from the boss to read the upcoming attack right. Most of his attacks are parryable so you’ll find little trouble in reacting to them.
The attack you should look out for is the sword poke to a sword swipe leading to a tremendous overhead slam. You’ll see this attack coming a mile away, you just have to parry the initial attacks. As soon as the overhead slam is about to land, block it at the right time, and the boss will fall to the ground.
Now use the Spear tool, thrust it into the boss, and press the ability button again to pull out the worm that infected it. Doing so will deal a ton of posture damage to the boss. Repeat this counter a few times and the boss will go out in a jiffy.
Moveset
Here are all the moves in phase one you must keep an eye out for and how you must react. He can transition or chain many of these attacks together so be extra vigilant:
- Terror Scream: Swirls his body while stationary and lets out a massive scream that builds up terror.
- Reaction: The perilous attack sign will flash giving you the sign to bail. Move out of the circle clearly visible in the water.
- Wide Sword Swipe: Move a bit to the right and sweep his sword horizontally to his left.
- Reaction: Cannot be parried. Jump over this attack.
- Sword Poke, Sword Swipe, and Overhead Slam: Pokes the sword in front then a quick sword swipe followed by a stretched-out overhead slam. The camera zooms out to capture his full stretch.
- Reaction: Parry the initial two attacks and get ready to parry the overhead strike at the right time. If you do it right, the boss will be stunned for a longer duration giving you ample time to lay into him.
- Leaping Body Drag Swipe: If you are further away, he jumps towards you and drags his body over the water followed by a sword swipe at the end.
- Reaction: Parry the swipe at the end.
- 5 Slam Combo: Slams his sword twice then two swings and then another slam.
- Reaction: Parry, parry, and parry!
- 5 Hit Combo: A five-hit diagonal and horizontal swiping combo.
- Reaction: Parry the attack that reaches you.
- Jump Swipe: Jumps in the air only to deliver a ground swipe after landing.
- Reaction: Jump as he is about to land.
- Pokes: Extends his sword arms further to poke you. He can chain this attack multiple times or can transition to other attacks too.
- Reaction: Parry as the hand stretches out.
Rewards For Defeating Guardian Ape
Taking out the Guardian Ape in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice will reward you with:
- Memory: Guardian Ape.
- Slender Finger. This item can be used to unlock the Finger Whistle Prosthetic Tool.
- Once the boss is defeated, you can get hold of the Lotus of the Palace in the cave behind the boss. It is a key item for story progression.
- 3000 to 4000 XP.