Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - How to Defeat Genichiro Ashina (Boss Guide)

Other Sekiro Guides:

Genichiro Ashina Boss Fight

All credit goes to Wendy!

This boss is not missable and is located on top of Ashina Castle. You will have to grapple you way into the window of the castle first then navigate the interior to reach the top.

Recommendations:

Seven Gourd Flasks.
At least two power level.
Monkey Axe Prosthetic.
Mikiri Counter and Deflect Projectiles.

Phase One

Upon the beginning of the encounter, Genichiro will fire a single arrow at you.

Sprint in either direction to avoid this ability immediately. Following this, he will unleash a series of four-five attacks that you can parry. It’s advised that you parry all five to keep his posture damage high as it will quickly drain if you’re not hitting him incessantly.

After a certain amount of attacks, beware of his jump ability. In this phase, he will slash downward and then immediately queue-up an avoidable thrust. If you wish, you can chance the Mikiri Counter against it if you think you’re good enough!

While fighting, you might notice that he slides and is still for a moment. At this point, you should recognize this as him queueing one of his strongest abilities – but also the ability that you can parry the most to increase stagger.

It might take you a few tries to get the rhythm down, but you’ll come to appreciate when he uses this because his posture damage goes crazy if you can get them all in succession. Continue to beat him down until you can deathblow him.

I found a benefit from trying to back him against the boundaries of the arena. Since the location is so small, some of his abilities may not queue up and he’ll be forced to jump into the air, which is a pretty easy thing to dodge. Try that if you’re having troubles!

After the first deathblow, only one his abilities will be augmented and that’s his jump. When he jumps, there is a chance that he’ll either thrust or sweep. At this point, I’d recommend not even attempting to use Mikiri just to make sure you don’t accidentally try blocking that sweep.

Phase Two

You’ll be transported and have to fight Genichiro one last time. At the beginning of this encounter, he will leap towards you with a flying thrust that deals about half health. Avoid this immediately by either sprinting or step-dodging.

Continue to beat him down like normal. The only ability you should be wary about is the lightning arrow. You can either deflect this (you learn how to do this at the mini-boss before jumping out the window towards the arena) or you can simply run away from the arrow instead.

Don’t attempt to step-dodge. The blast radius is high enough that even a step-dodge won’t work!

Get really aggressive with this battle. Since he has no armor, you’ll be dealing a lot of posture damage to him and will get him down a lot faster than you think. Other than that, that’s really about it. Don’t worry about failing a few times, you got this!