"Sekiro: Shadows The Twice" is a very, very difficult game – no wonder, it comes from From Software, who already did the "Dark Souls" series and "Bloodborne". However, there are massive differences between the Soulsborne games and "Sekiro" and knowing them makes the difference between winning and losing. Our guide will help you to understand the basics of "Sekiro".

1. Forget "Dark Souls" and "Bloodborne"

Slowly approach with a drawn shield, land a quick hit and scurry back into cover – who has gambled the Soulsborne games, for this fighting behavior has become almost an instinct.

Exactly that is the error: "Sekiro" demands a much more aggressive and faster procedure from you. Unlike in the games before you have now no endurance bars more, theoretically so you can start a whole series of attacks or roll endlessly often in safety , This results in a completely different feeling, which I first had to get used to as a Soulsborne veteran.

Even if it seems completely unintuitive and downright suicidal in the beginning, you have the highest chances of surviving in this game if you always stay close to your opponent – no matter if it's a simple rice farmer with a pitchfork or a huge one. .. but you will see that.

2. Break the opponent's attitude

Have you completely deleted "Dark Souls" and "Bloodborne" from your brain? Okay, let's take a closer look at Sekiro's complex combat system.

Your opponents have two bars: a red for the life energy (here called vitality) and a yellow for the so-called attitude. Of course, every action player wants to immediately reduce the red bar, but that's not necessarily your primary goal. It is more important to fill the yellow bar of your counterpart. When it is full, the enemy's attitude is broken, it flashes red and you can give it a juicy death blow. And he nibbles neatly on the life energy – logically.

And how do you break the attitude of the opponents? In different ways:

• Force your opponent to block
• Land a successful attack
• Cause status anomalies like "burning"
• Insert the arm prosthesis modules, which you gradually unlock
• Counter special, dangerous attacks
• Parry the attacks of your opponent

Important: If you leave an enemy alone, his posture will recover
gradually – but you continue to attack, then not. The lower
the vitality of your opponent, the slower it recovers
his attitude. Means for you: Reduce his vitality, to break the posture easier. Use all of the above techniques to keep putting pressure on the enemy, destroying his stance, and killing him with a killing blow.

3. Parry, parry, parry!

Probably the most important tool in your arsenal is the parade. Properly used, she can decide on a difficult fight in just a few moments. Press the block key for a fraction of a second before the attack of your opponent hits you. Good to know: You do not have to touch the button for the defense, you can also press and hold the button. So all enemy attacks on you are warded off while you lift the sword. This is very helpful in the early stages of the game, as you panic trying to learn the timing of your opponents.

A successful parade deals serious damage to the stance of your enemy. Mostly it opens for further attacks on your part, the gap in its cover after a perfect parade so you should definitely exploit. If you react quickly, you can even land a juicy fiver combo! On the other hand, after parrying, you can usually kill weaker rags with the death blow.

For safety I say it again at this point: Practice the parry until you master it in your sleep! With easy blocking or rolling away, you will not see any land later in the game. But it is also clear: not absolutely every attack can and should be parried, some attacks are almost impossible to fend off. Here only helps to get a feel for the battle rhythm and to see through the attack pattern of the enemies. What brings us gallant to the next tip …

4. Train with the zombie

Gray is all theory, only practice makes perfect. Luckily, developers at From Software realized that, ironically, Soulsborne veterans with the new combat system will have their teething problems – and kindly provide us with a digital sparring partner.

On the way to the dilapidated temple you will find the immortal samurai hanbai, with whom you can place as many training laps as you like. After the basics, he also teaches you advanced techniques such as parry chains or countering shock attacks. These practice fights, which are held stress-free without any adversary interference, teach you all the essential tricks and gimmicks you can do on the battlefield. Use your trainer until you feel reasonably safe with the more complicated maneuvers.

5. Use stealth whenever possible

Look around in the free exploration exactly: Often you find man-high grass and similar objects, in which you hide yourself well and can sneak unnoticed against your opponents. If you are close enough, a beautiful red dot appears on the unsuspecting enemy – and now you hit the attack button, you kill him with only one blow from the ambush.

Especially fine: Even bosses are not immune to stealth attacks! If you manage to sneak up against an opponent, you can give yourself a massive advantage. Of course, this is only occasionally, but it is always worth exploring the environment before you plunge into the next battle unprepared.

6. Revive – but right

Shadows die twice, it says in the subtitle of "Sekiro". This means the new revival mechanics: As soon as you receive the resurrection charge, you can return to life after your death. Of course, this is not unlimited: You must first kill enemies to replenish the resurrection charge.

If you do not want to or can not be resurrected, you will wake up at the last Buddha figure, all regular enemies are back and you have lost half of your Sen and Experience points to the next ability point. A system called Divine Help can sometimes save you from this hard fate, but you'll find that out automatically as the game progresses.

Do not hammer on the button as soon as you get back into the game, but wait a few seconds. Many enemies are slowly wandering off and do not waste their thoughts on you anymore. Only now has your moment come to make Lazarus: Get up, sneak up on the thoughtless booby and shut it off with a stealth attack.

There is no rule of thumb when to rise from the dead and when to just lie down and swallow the loss. But in boss battles is a very good guideline to look at the red vitality strip of the enemy: If you have subtracted virtually nothing, before it crumbled you, it usually makes more sense to die permanently and to make a fresh attempt.

7. You are the best weapon yourself

You do not like your Katana? You would like a smarter armor for Wolf? Well, bad luck: your starting equipment will not change until the end of the game. This is a big disappointment for item collectors who have put together whole armor sets in the Soulsborne games.

And in concrete terms, that means for you that it really is only your martial arts, whether you reach the end of the game or not. So stick my tip number 4 and train until the combat system goes into flesh and blood.

But after all, there are three skill trees that you unlock relatively early in the game and that will give you a lot of valuable active and passive bonuses. Choose your favorite skill and customize your fighting style to your own personal preference. Your Shinobi prosthetic arm can (and will) be your lifesaver: Try found updates immediately by having them inserted into the dentures by the sculptor.