Sekiro boss guide: Snake Eyes Shirahagi

Sekiro’s Snake Eyes Shirahagi boss fight might look like a reskin of your fight against Snake Eyes Shirafugi at first. And it’s very similar on the surface, but the location, additional enemies, and environmental hazards make this an entirely different fight.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to defeat Snake Eyes Shirahagi with the most effective Shinobi Prosthetic, our favorite Combat Art, items you should bring with you, and strategies for reacting to her attacks in both phases. We’ll even include a borderline cheating way to defeat her.

The best Prosthetic Tools, items, and skills for Snake Eyes Shirahagi

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 with Snake Eyes Shirahagi.

• Antidote Powder. Your fight takes place in a poisonous swamp. This item will heal your Poison status abnormality and temporarily increase your resistance.
• 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.
• While not necessary (we didn’t use it at all), if you have picked up the Loaded Umbrella Prosthetic Tool, it’s a good shield to use when there are multiple people shooting at you, like there will be during this fight.

Approaching the Snake Eyes Shirahagi boss fight and a Stealth Deathblow

Your fight with Snake Eyes Shirahagi will take place pretty much exactly halfway between the Ashina Depths > Ashina Depths and Poison Pool Sculptor’s Idols. You can start from either of them, but we like the Ashina Depths — but only because you can take out one of the gunman on your way to the fight.

Walk forward from the idol and drop down to the wooden platform beneath you. Turn right and drop down again. Turn left and drop down one more time. Take out the gunner with a Stealth Deathblow. (Don’t jump and do a plunging Deathblow here — that seems to draw more attention.)

From there, grapple straight across the middle of the arena to the statue on the far side. Drop down behind the statue and turn right.

Hug the wall on your left and loop around to perform a Deathblow on Snake Eyes Shirahagi.

You have a choice here: You can either keep the fight right here and use the toppled statue as cover, or you can risk getting shot while you handle the other enemies (and use a cheap trick to whittle down her Vitality).

Snake Eyes Shirahagi Phase 2

General strategies

Shirahagi’s style is similar to Snake Eyes Shirafuji’s, but you don’t have the benefit of poison this time, so you’re going to have to rely on your attacks to wear her down. You’re going to be blocking a lot — a single shot from her gun will knock off easily half of your Vitality. Dodging and Deflecting will get you the rest of the way through.

Snake Eyes Shirahagi attacks

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

Perilous Attack 1: Hook and shoot

Shirahagi has the same hook and shoot Perilous Attack that Shirafuji does. If you get caught, she’ll draw you in, then blast you backward with her gun.

Any time you see the red kanji appear over Sekiro’s head, start dodging sideways. You can land a counterattack after you dodge, but your first priority should be to just get out of the way of her hook.

Combos

Shirahagi’s other attacks are a combination of swinging her gun, shooting her gun, or kicking. You can block them all, but that’ll take a big bite out of your Posture.

Try to Deflect the swings, block the shot (with the Loaded Umbrella, if you have it), and Step Dodge the kick. That’ll set you up for a counterattack.

Sekiro’s attacks

Most of this fight is about responding to Snake Eyes Shirahagi’s attacks, but we should also point out what to do when you’re on offense.

Shinobi Firecracker

We end up recommending this Prosthetic Tool in just about every boss guide we write, and the Shinobi Firecracker works extremely well against Snake Eyes Shirahagi.

Use it to break up her attacks or even disrupt them. Just don’t get greedy when you’re attacking while she’s stunned — you only have time for one or two swings before she’ll recover.

Snake Eyes Shirahagi Phase 2 (cheese)

There is a way to defeat Shirahagi without much actual combat. It feels a little like cheating (and it may eventually get patched), but it’s a dirty solution if you keep getting stuck.

Start with the same Stealth Deathblow as above. Instead of staying focused on Shirahagi, though, immediately sprint to the island in the middle of the arena (back toward the Ashina Depths idol) and take out the gunner there — if you’re lucky, you’ll get a quick Deathblow.

Turn to the right and run (don’t grapple) out into the open poisonous area. Your goal is to get Shirahagi to follow you. When she does, use the trees to grapple up to the cliff above you. Handle the gunner there with another Deathblow, then approach the edge while guarding.

FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon

You’re trying to keep Shirahagi’s attention and keep her shooting at you (and hopefully hitting the cliff below you) while she’s standing in the poison. After about a minute, she’ll get the Poisoned status abnormality, and her Vitality will start draining.

Just wait it out. If you ever notice it stop draining, hit her with a shuriken, then wait some more. Wait until her Vitality is down as far as it can go, then drop down and finish her off.

Snake Eyes Shirahagi drops, items, and rewards

Defeat Snake Eyes Shirahagi, and you’ll receive a Prayer Bead.