Sekiro’s Blazing Bull is a fairly early, entirely infuriating boss fight. In this guide, we’ll show you how to beat Sekiro’s Blazing Bull boss.
The Blazing Bull is different than basically any other enemy you’ve faced thus far. His enormous yellow Posture bar drains about as fast as you can damage it, so your goal is to whittle down its Vitality (or health). Why? Because the lower its Vitality, the slower it regains Posture. Here’s how to do that.
Eliminate other enemies and obstacles
Your first order of business: making sure that there’s nobody but you and the Blazing Bull in the area where you fight him.
When you enter the arena, kill the enemy close to the door with a backstab Deathblow.
Then put yourself between the two other enemies and the Blazing Bull. Walk forward. When the Blazing Bull emerges from r its hiding place, it should kill one or (if you’re lucky) both of them. If it doesn’t kill them, don’t try to do the work that the Blazing Bull will do. Just keep your distance from all of your enemies, and the weak ones will be dead soon.
Now it’s time to clear the arena.
The Blazing Bull is wild and fast, but you’re just as fast, if not faster. Keep you distance, and run around the battlefield. Let the Blazing Bull destroy the wooden towers and fences. That’ll let you run around freely for the next phase of this fight.
The best Shinobi Prosthetic Tool for the Blazing Bull
If you picked up the Shinobi Firecracker, you can use this to moderate effect in this fight. It’ll buy you a little bit of time, stun the Blazing Bull, and allow you to get a few hits in. Just don’t rely on it too heavily — the stun doesn’t last very long.
Wait until the bull stops to change direction, run up behind it, and use the Shinobi Firecracker. Swing away, and then back off before it starts moving again.
Chase the Blazing Bull
Here’s the trick: Don’t let the Blazing Bull chase you. Chase it instead. It’s fast. You’re at least as fast (maybe faster).
Also, one end of the Blazing Bull is on fire. The other end isn’t. Chase it, and target the non-flaming end. Cut its butt with your sword is what we’re saying.
Lock onto the Blazing Bull, and run circles around it. It doesn’t really matter whether you go left or right. Just keep your distance, and run around it. The Blazing Bull isn’t exactly a genius. It’s just angry and on a rampage. Keep your distance, circle around, and watch its movement. Attack when it’s turning or paused.
Your goal is to follow the Blazing Bull. It’ll pause occasionally to change directions. It’ll run into walls and turn around. Close the gap, slice at its hindquarters, and follow it as it runs away. You can see us doing that above.
It’s not a short fight. And it’s not a Posture-based fight, either. This is a war for Vitality, and you’ll take its health down a few slivers at a time.
Special situations
Defeating the Blazing Bull isn’t easy, but it isn’t complicated either. What we wrote about covers a good 90 percent of your time with the mini-boss. But there are a handful of curveballs that we should explain, too.
The Blazing Bull will destroy all of the wooden structures in the arena. That’s to your advantage because it allows you to run around unencumbered. Let him do his thing. If he hasn’t destroyed something, run between the structure and the bull. He’ll charge straight at you, destroying whatever was in his way. Just make sure to start running at about the moment where he’s about to make contact with whatever structure he’s going to destroy.
Occasionally, the Blazing Bull will stop charging and swing its flaming head. Stay away from his head. It’s on fire. Stay back by his butt. You can stun him if you hit him in the head, but if you stay there, you’re going to take massive damage (as you can see above). If that happens, run away and heal.
If you do find yourself near his head, hit the dodge button, and press in a direction away from his head (preferably toward his butt). You can evade a surprising amount of his attacks with your Step Dodge.
Occasionally, when you’ve done enough damage, the Blazing Bull will pause and collect itself for a few seconds. This is your opportunity to get in a few swings — three or four, and then back away. Play it safe. Don’t get cocky. Its blazing head can disintegrate your health.