Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa is one of the first challenging opponents you’ll face in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. While the first looks and the overall aura he carries are intimidating, it is only until you do not understand what you are up against.
Before you get overwhelmed by the powerful strikes of this mighty steed-riding demon, go over our guide and learn everything you need to know to take Gyoubu Mastaka Oniwa down.
Fighting Gyoubu Oniwa
Passing through the Ashina Castle, you will come across Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa. You have to get through the castle in order to progress in the story and he is the one guarding the gates. There is no other way but to fight him.
Fortunately for you, taking him down is going to be a piece of cake if you know about him. Gyoubu Oniwa is going to come running at you on his horse wielding a giant spear. His agility surely can get the best of you, and the arena, which is a giant open space, gives him the upper hand in this situation.
The majority of his attacks are generic swipes and lunges with some of them in the form of two or three-hit combos. There is not a whole lot of variety in the attacks and most of them are parriable and blockable.
To make the fight all easier, here are some general tips you can follow to easily beat Gyoubu Oniwa in Sekiro:
- Instead of dodging the attacks, block/parry them. This will fill up his Posture Meter quickly. The best thing is to keep your block up through most of the fight.
- Bring Firecrackers to freak out his horse. You can use this trick to get some free hits.
- If you haven’t already, unlock the Grapplehook. This will come in handy during this fight.
- Stay close to the boss. If he gains distance, he will do a powerful charge attack that deals a lot of damage.
Moveset
Here are all the moves you should look out for when fighting Gyoubu Mastaka Oniwa in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice:
- Basic Spear Combo: This attack mostly consists of a variety of swipes, slashes, and pokes. This can vary and usually comes in the form of a 2 to 3-hit combo.
- Reaction: Can easily be blocked or parried. There is no need to dodge. Capitalize on this opportunity to fill up his posture meter.
- Spear Sweep: Keep you as his center point, Gyoubu will place his spear on the ground and start running in a circle. This is quite similar to one of the obstacle machines in a country fair where you have to jump every time the obstacles come around, instead this time it is a spear.
- Reaction: As you would in a game, jump every time the spear comes close to you. You can also run up to the boss and land a couple of hits.
- Spear Spin: Gyoubu will run straight at you while spinning his spear in the shape of the digit “8*.
- Reaction: Use your weapon to block it.
- Triple Hit Dash: If the boss is at a distance from you, he will charge at you with his spear pointed right at you. The spear will hit you three times during this attack.
- Reaction: You can block this attack at the expense of breaking your posture. However, you will have enough time to recover because Gyoubu also takes time before attacking again.
- Late Charge: Gyoubu Oniwa will run past you and seemingly do nothing, but at the last second, he will swing his spear backward to hit you.
- Reaction: This attack is not telegraphed. The best thing you can do is keep your block up as soon as he starts running at you.
- Horse Jump: Gyoubu’s horse will jump into the air and while he is coming down, the boss will point his spear straight down. He does this attack twice in one go.
- Reaction: It is suggested to block the attack instead of dodging it.
- Horse Kick: If you hang behind the horse’s back for too long, it will use its hind legs to chuck you into the air.
- Reaction: Run away after landing one or two hits.
- Chained Spear Attack: This attack usually comes if Gyoubu is at a distance from you. He will detach the tip of his spear and either swing it around or launch it straight at you.
- Reaction: The former variation of the attack, swing, can be blocked while the latter, throw, can only be deflected.
Strategy
Here is how the thing will unfold and also what you should be doing during both phases of the fight against Gyoubu Mastaka Oniwa in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice.
Phase 1
The first and the second phases of the fight against Gyoubu are not radically different. If you got through the first phase, you can get through the second one as well and with relative ease. As soon as the fight starts, Gyoubu will be busy showing off, and you need to use that window to land the first couple of hits.
Run straight for him, land at least three or four hits, and run away. After that, he will start attacking and you need to stick close to his body with your guard up all the time. Most of his attacks are blockable and parrying them quickly fills up his posture meter.
This might fill up your posture meter as well, and yours might even break at some point, but you can still recover more quickly than his attacks. Another good thing is that Gyoubu’s Posture Meter fills up rather quickly but doesn’t recover quite as fast.
You have a lot of time before his Posture starts recovering. When you are close to Gyoubu and he is not in between any combo, you can use Firecrackers to freak out his horse. He will go crazy and raise his front legs. It will take a few seconds for it to recover and you can land quite a few hits before that.
Block, block, attack, and repeat. Keep doing this while dodging his attacks here and there. Eventually, you will break his posture and be able to land a death blow.
Phase 2
The second phase is when Gyoubu starts to run away and attack from a distance. While this might seem bad this gives you a big opportunity to use your grapplehook. Whenever he runs away, you will see a green triangle symbol appear on his head.
That’s your cue to use your grapplehook. This attack will not only get you close to him but also stun him for a few seconds. You can quickly deal some damage before he runs away again. Another thing to notice when he is far from you is his Spear Throws.
A warning symbol will appear on the screen anticipating the Spear Attack. If you can time it perfectly, deflect it or you can also simply dodge it. Other than that, the second phase is similar to the first phase. Follow the same blocking tactic and you are not far from dealing a Deathblow.
How to Cheese Gyoubu Oniwa in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
Gyoubu Oniwa is already one of the easier bosses in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. If you want to cheese him, here is how you can do it. If you do this method properly, you don’t even have to fight him. Here is what you have to do.
Climb up the Guard’s Tower in the center of the arena, and then from there, get on top of the building from where Gyoubu appears. From the roof, go stand on the right back ledge. The ledge hangs over the arena and the cliff.
Watch out for the enemy that appears on the top. Take it down and stand on the ledge. Gyoubu Oniwa will run around for a bit and eventually will fall over the edge, killing him, and ending the fight.
Rewards For Defeating Gyoubu Oniwa
You will receive the following rewards for defeating Gyoubu Mastaka Oniwa in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice:
- Memory: Gyoubu Oniwa
- Mechanical Barrel
- 1000x XP