Sekiro boss guide: Great Shinobi – Owl

Sekiro’s Great Shinobi – Owl guide boss fight isn’t easy, but it’s easier when you know what’s coming.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to defeat Great Shinobi – Owl with the most effective Shinobi Prosthetic, items you should bring with you, and strategies to react to his attacks.

The best Prosthetic Tools, items, and skills for Great Shinobi – Owl

There are always items and attacks that work well against Sekiro bosses. These are our recommendations for the best items to bring to your fight.

• Shinobi Firecracker. Sekiro’s most versatile Prosthetic Tool allows you to stun your enemy and get in a hit or two — or just get away and regain your composure.
• Antidote Powder. You might get poisoned. This will remove the Poison status abnormality.

That’s it. Feel free to bring whatever you like and ready your favorite Combat Art, but everything else is gravy. You can beat Great Shinobi – Owl entirely with standard attacks.

Phase 1: Great Shinobi – Owl

General strategies

Great Shinobi – Owl only has a handful of attacks, but every one of them is designed to destroy your Posture (even if you block) and your Vitality (if you don’t block). Given that, our strategy for this fight is about avoiding damage.

The trick to defeating Great Shinobi – Owl is identifying and responding to his attacks. Then the fight becomes an if-then statement: If he does this, then I do this. In this section, we’ll show you Great Shinobi – Owl’s attacks (the if part) and how to respond to them (the then part).

Great Shinobi – Owl’s attacks

Let’s talk about his attacks, how to identify them, and what you should do about them.

No matter which attack we’re talking about, one piece of advice will remain the same throughout: Respond, attack one or two times, and then get away.

Slash kick

Owl slashes with his sword and then knees Sekiro. You can block or Deflect, but the better option is to Step Dodge to his side and follow up with an attack or two.

Shuriken jump

Owl throws two shurikens, jumps toward Sekiro, and ends the jump with a powerful overhand attack.

As soon as you see Owl raise his hand to throw shurikens, run to the side (not toward) Owl. Keep running as he transitions into the jump. When he lands, counterattack. When Owl starts blocking, don’t run away. Block first. Then run away.

This is also a good opportunity to use your Shinobi Firecracker to stun Owl for a few seconds and get a few more attacks in.

Shuriken dash slash

Owl throws a single shuriken and then slashes as Sekiro. You can block or Deflect these, or you can attempt a Step Dodge followed by a counterattack. We’d suggest just enduring these attacks. There are better opportunities to respond.

Slash orb

Owl slashes with his sword and tosses a small orb into the air. The orb disappears in a puff. If Sekiro gets caught inside of the mist it leaves behind, he’ll be unable to use items like the Healing Gourd for a while.

When you see this attack, get away. Stay outside of the vapor cloud. If you can get behind him, you could counterattack. Instead, use this as an opportunity to get away. Put some distance between Sekiro and Owl. Heal if you need to. Owl’s stuck in an animation long enough to make this safe from a distance.

Slash jump shuriken

Owl slashes with his sword, jumps off of Sekiro’s head, and throws shurikens as he flies away.

You can block or Deflect the slash, and it’s easy to Step Dodge away from the shurikens. There’s not much you can do to respond, since he’ll land far away from Sekiro.

Single attacks and combos

Owl attacks once, twice, three, or four times in rapid succession.

It’s best to block (and Deflect if you can), at least until you get comfortable with his attack cadence. If you’re already running around him when he starts an attack, close the distance for a few hits after his attacks finish.

Shinobi Firecracker

It’s rare, but Owl has the same Shinobi Firecracker that Sekiro does. The only thing to do is get away from it.

Phase 2: Great Shinobi – Owl

Owl has generally the same attacks in the second phase of the fight, with some variations.

Slash jump poison

Owl slashes with his sword, jumps off of Sekiro’s head, and throws poison goop as he flies away.

You can block or Deflect the slash, but run away from the poison. And keep in mind that wherever the poison landed will be off limits for the next minute or so because the green goo sticks around.

Smoke bomb

Owl throws a smoke bomb at the ground, obscuring his location for a moment. You’ll still be locked on. Just get away and wait for the smoke to dissipate.

Great Shinobi – Owl drops, items, and rewards

Defeat Great Shinobi – Owl, and you’ll receive Memory: Great Shinobi and the Aromatic Branch.