Sekiro boss order: The best order for every boss fight

Sekiro is currently the only Souls game that I haven’t completed properly, despite sinking over 30 hours into the game and reaching the final boss, whom I found to be overly difficult and, well, a bit of a slog.

One day, I hope to return to the game and complete it, since I know I’ve brushed up my parrying skills, but that won’t be for a while.

Still, I’m very much aware of the bosses in the game, many of which I loved despite giving me an incredibly hard time (Guardian Ape was a terrific fight!). Since I also worked my way towards unlocking one of the more complicated endings, although I never fully achieved it, I have a good understanding of the general boss order you’ll face trying to complete Sekiro and its four endings.

While there’s no specifically correct boss order, since you can at any time explore other regions for additional bosses, the list I’ve proposed I feel is one of the best ways to go through the game and complete it.

Sekiro boss order at a glance

I’ve included a list of all mandatory boss fights in Sekiro up until the moment you have to make a decision that changes the game’s trajectory and the bosses you have to defeat immediately after.

#	Boss	Area	Note
1	Genichiro Ashina (Prologue)	Ashina Reservoir	You cannot defeat Genichiro during the Prologue
2	Chained Ogre	Ashina Outskirts	A non-optional mini-boss
3	Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa	Ashina Outskirts	First real boss fight
4	Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen	Hirata Estate	A non-optional mini-boss. The Mikiri Counter skill makes this boss much easier
5	Juzou the Drunkard	Hirata Estate	Optional, but required for the Purification Ending.
6	Lady Butterfly	Hirata Estate	Optional, but required for the Purification Ending.
7	Blazing Bull	Ashina Castle	Unlocks Ashina Castle
8	Genichiro Ashina	Ashina Castle	Big difficulty step up
9	Armored Warrior	Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo	You can’t kill him normally. You need to build up his posture meter and then perform a death blow beside a hole in the bridge to cause him to fall off
10	Folding Screen Monkeys	Senpou Temple	A puzzle boss that requires you to defeat four monkeys
11	Long Arm Centipede Giraffe	Sunken Valley	The Giraffe’s posture meter fills up quickly, so make sure to deflect attacks successfully to make this fight easier
12	Guardian Ape	Sunken Valley Passage	Can easily be stun with the Shinobi Firecracker prosthetic tool
13	Snake Eyes Shirahag	Ashina Depths	You can backstab Shirahag to remove one health bar easily
14	Headless Ape	Ashina Depths	You will face the Headless Ape and its mate at the same time, but only Headless needs to be defeated to complete this boss fight
15	Mist Noble	Hidden Forest	Perform a drop-down deathblow on Mist Noble to kill him quickly
16	Corrupted Monk (Illusion)	Senpou Temple / Ashina Depths	Focus on chipping away her health due to her high HP pool and strong posture

Where do I go after defeating Genichiro?

Firstly, well done for defeating Genichiro at Ashina Castle, it’s the first of many major roadblocks in the game, so you’re only just getting started. With him gone, you’ll want to head towards Senpou Temple to get the Mortal Blade to continue moving the story forward.

Make your way to the Abandoned Dungeon and explore the area until you find an elevator that takes you to Senpou Temple.

The Iron Code decision

After defeating Corrupted Monk and working your way back to the top of Ashina Castle, you’ll encounter The Owl and will need to make a decision: either betray Kuro for the Shura Ending or remain loyal to Kuro for any of the game’s three other endings.

The decision you make will determine the bosses you fight for the remainder of the game. I’ve split the remainder of the boss list into two sections, those you face after chosing to stay loyal to Kuro and those you fight by betraying him.

Click either of the buttons below to continue the boss list.

Staying loyal to Kuro

By choosing to stay loyal to Kuro in the game, you open yourself up to three endings:

• The Immortal Severance Ending (Neutral)
• The Purification Ending (Good, and my favourite of the three)
• Return Ending (True)

For all three endings, you’ll need to defeat another five mandatory boss, along with an additional two (A total of seven extra bosses) for the Purification Ending.

Both the Purification and Return Endings are incredibly complex and require you to complete several steps before defeating the game’s final boss. I’ve outlined what you should do in my guide on Sekiro’s four different endings, linked above.

In the meantime, the bosses you’ll need to defeat are:

#	Boss	Area	Note
17	Great Shinobi Owl	Ashina Castle	Avoid thrust attacks as Owl can perform a Mikiri Counter on you and deal significant damage
18	Corrupted Monk (Real version)	Fountainhead Palace	The Shinobi Firecracker tool can be incredibly helpful in this fight
19	Divine Dragon	Fountainhead Palace	Jump to avoid his lightning strikes and perform counter attacks
20	Genichiro, Way of Tomoe	Ashina Reservoir	Using the Mikiri Counter skill can make this fight trivial
21	Isshin, the Sword Saint	Ashina Reservoir	Good luck!

Bosses for the Purification Ending

If you’re aiming to unlock the Purification Ending, you’ll also want to fight two additional bosses before defeating Genichiro, Way of Tomoe and Isshin, the Sword Saint. These can be done at any time after defeating Great Shinobi Owl atop Ashina Castle:

#	Boss	Area	Note
22	Juzou the Drunkard	Hirata Estate	Required for the Purification Ending
23	Owl (Father)	Hirata Estate	Required for the Purification Ending

Betraying Kuro

If you want the Shura Ending, simply betray Kuro and face the next two bosses to complete the game:

#	Boss	Area	Note
17	Emma, the Gentle Blade	Ashina Castle	Required for the Shura Ending
18	Isshin, the Sword Saint	Ashina Castle	Required for the Shura Ending

Full list of all mini-bosses in Sekiro

In addition to the main bosses I’ve outlined above, Sekiro is jam-packed with dozens of mini-bosses for you to defeat that offer you Prayer Beads which increase your health. While these aren’t mandatory, it’s a good idea to try and defeat as many as possible, both to increase your health and to get accustomed to the game’s fast combat.

#	Boss	Area	Note
1	General Naomori Kawarade	Ashina Outskirts	Rewards you with your first Prayer Bead
2	General Tenzen Yamauchi	Ashina Outskirts	The Mikiri Counter skill makes this boss much easier
3	Headless	Ashina Outskirts	You must use Divine Confetti to deal damage to Headless
4	Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen	Hirata Estate	The Mikiri Counter skill makes this boss much easier
5	Seven Ashina Spears – Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi	Ashina Reservoir	You can perform a stealth backstab to remove one health bar easily
6	Lone Shadow Longswordsman	Ashina Reservoir	You can perform a stealth backstab to remove one health bar easily
7	General Kuranosuke Matsumoto	Ashina Castle	You can perform a stealth backstab to remove one health bar easily by dispatching the enemies around him, running away and returning
8	Ashina Elite – Jinsuke Saze	Ashina Castle	Can be missed if not killed before the first attack on Ashina Castle
9	Headless	Ashina Castle	Only accessible once you’ve unlocked the Mibu Breathing Technique skill You must use Divine Confetti to deal damage to Headless
10	Shichimen Warrior	Abandoned Dungeon	Can be fought immediately after Lone Shadow Longswordsman
11	Long Arm Centipede Sen-Un	Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo	The Shinobi Firecracker is incredibly effective against him
12	Snake Eyes Shirafuji	Sunken Valley	You can perform a stealth backstab to remove one health bar easily
13	Headless	Sunken Valley	You must use Divine Confetti to deal damage to Headless
14	Shichimen Warrior	Ashina Depths	Can be fought in the Guardian Ape’s burrow after the Headless Ape has been defeated and you have installed the Finger Whistle Prosthetic tool.
15	Tokujiro the Glutton	Ashina Depths	You can perform a stealth backstab to remove one health bar easily
16	Headless	Hidden Forest	Defeat Mist Noble before trying to take on Headless to disperse the mist and make the fight easier You must use Divine Confetti to deal damage to Headless
17	O’Rin of the Water	Mibu Village	Using a Divine Confetti will increase the damage dealt to her
18	Chained Ogre	Ashina Castle	Only appears after defeating the Corrupted Monk and Guardian Ape.
19	Lone Shadow Masanaga the Spear-Bearer	Ashina Castle	You can perform a stealth backstab to remove one health bar easily
20	Lone Shadow Masanaga the Spear-Bearer	Hirata Estate (Owl Memory)	Use the Finger Whistle to deal with the pack of dogs Masanaga can summon
21	Sakura Bull of the Palace	Fountainhead Palace	You can perform a stealth deathblow to reduce the bull’s health by 1/3
22	Okami Leader Shizu	Fountainhead Palace	Defeat Okami to safely explore the water nearby
23	Headless	Fountainhead Palace	You must use Divine Confetti to deal damage to Headless
24	Ashina Elite – Ujinari Mizuo	Ashina Castle	Accessible after defeating the Divine Dragon.
25	Shigekichi of the Red Guard	Ashina Outskirts	Accessible after defeating the Divine Dragon.
26	Demon of Hatred	Ashina Outskirts	Accessible after defeating the Divine Dragon.
27	Seven Ashina Spears – Shume Masaji Oniwa	Ashina Reservoir	Accessible after defeating the Divine Dragon.