Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is one of the hardest games out right now. Since it is a From Software game, it has a very high learning curve and takes a lot of time to master. However, once you get to grips with the game mechanics and fight techniques, Sekiro delivers one of the most satisfying experiences in a video game. The game’s level design, bosses and fighting mechanics are absolutely top-notch. Sekiro is now one of the highest rated games of 2019, if not of all time. Consequently, the game has already topped the sales charts with over 2 million sales in just 10 days.
Sekiro does not have a shortage of content and things to do. The game world is littered with different enemy types and a variety of bosses. As it is designed to have a steep learning curve, a lot of the fights can feel a bit too intimidating. It is very hard to stay focused when the same boss has managed to kill you over and over again. However, patience and strategy are the two main elements of defeating any foe that you face in Sekiro. The same advice will also apply to the boss we are discussing here, the Chained Ogre. This guide will tell you all about how to overcome the mighty Chained Ogre with a solid and tested strategy. So, read on to find out a relatively easy way to beat the intimidating Ogre.
What you need to know before the fight
There is one important thing you need to know before you go into the fight with the Chained Ogre. This will not only apply to this boss but will also come in handy for the rest of the game. Sekiro has a very clever design for bosses with secret vulnerability giveaways. In this case, if you come face-to-face with an enemy that has red and glowing eyes, that means that the enemy is vulnerable to fire. You will also be able to confirm this fact by eavesdropping on the guards near the Chained Ogre. Since the fight is one of the earliest boss fights in the game, you might not have a Flame Vent Shinobi Prosthetic. However, if you do have it, you can try to stagger the Ogre slowly using the flames. In any case, it doesn’t really change the fight strategy much for the Chained Ogre at least.
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Where to find the Chained Ogre?
The Chained Ogre is one of the easiest bosses to find in Sekiro. It is one of the first bosses you’re going to face in the game. It is pretty hard to miss a Chained Ogre during your adventures through the world. The first Chained Ogre you’re going to face in Sekiro is located in the Ashina Outskirts near the Outskirts Wall. You can teleport to the Stairway Sculptor’s Idol and get to the Ogre quickly if you’ve already been there. However, since the first encounter with the Chained Ogre is not optional, you’ll probably stumble upon it just in your regular travels. Defeating the Chained Ogre will give you a prayer bead and Shinobi Medicine.
The Ogre can also be found after you take over the castle and kill the Corrupted monk and Guardian Ape. In order to get to the Ogre in this location, jump over the fence to the floor downstairs from the Antechamber idol located in the upper tower.
Preparation before the fight
The things you need to do before going into the fight are pretty straightforward. Since the chances of you beating the Chained Ogre in your first try are very low, you’d probably have to repeat these things over and over again and by the end, you probably will have mastered this part of the fight at least. When you get to the Ashina Outskirts wall, you’ll be able to see the Ogre chained in the distance. If you go up the stairs, the Ogre will come after you. So, it would be wise to clear out the enemies around the Chained Ogre first.
Get up onto one of the roofs near the guards standing downstairs and take them out. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have plenty of room to kite the Ogre around in the downstairs open area. You can take him upstairs too if you want but then you’d have to face another enemy standing there. You can just zoom past the ogre and take out the enemy waiting upstairs first as well. However, this just adds the unnecessary risk of getting surrounded by the Ogre and the guard. In addition to that, the area upstairs is also not very open. So, our advice would be to keep the Ogre in the lower part of the open area down the stairs.
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The Fight
The first thing you need to do is remembering how to perform a deathblow while you are hidden. The Chained Ogre, like a lot of other mini bosses, has a double deathblow gauge. This means that performing even one stealthy deathblow can pretty much cut the effort needed to defeat it in half. In order to do this, walk up to the Ogre until he gets triggered and breaks out of his chains. After that, lure him down the stairs into the open area and run away out of his sight. This will result in the Ogre forgetting about you and walking back up the stairs again. He will now essentially have his back against you. Just stealth behind him and perform the first deathblow to eradicate half of his health even before the fight has started.
After you’ve successfully performed the deathblow, you can no longer hide and will have to face the Ogre in a one on one battle. This is where the harder part of the fight begins.
Staggering the boss
There are multiple ways you can stagger the Chained Ogre. If this is not the first time you’re facing this foe, chances are that you have the Flame Vent Shinobi Prosthetic. This prosthetic shoots flame out of it to inflict fire damage on enemies. As we’ve already seen above, the Chained Ogre has red eyes and thus is vulnerable to fire damage. So, if you manage to sneak in some flame shots between the dodges, you can very easily stagger the Chained Ogre.
However, if you do not have the Flame Prosthetic yet, you don’t need to worry about it too much. You can also stagger the Chained Ogre with some consistent little attacks. You just need to jump on to the Ogre and do a flurry of blows. This will eventually stagger the Chained Ogre as well giving you a chance to get some meaningful hits on it.
Dodging the attacks
The Chained Ogre, like most other bosses, has a very defined pattern for attacking you. You can spend some time learning the pattern and just dodging every attack. Most of the time, the Ogre will either go for a grab or lunge on for a bigger grapple. This will be indicated by the red kanji symbol that signifies that this attack cannot be deflected. Do not attempt to dodge this attack by jumping backwards as the Ogre has a very long reach. This will most definitely result in you either dying or losing a substantial amount of health. Instead, keep your dodges sideways and well-timed.
In some cases, the Ogre will jump forward and fall down if you successfully dodge the grab attack. This is now your chance to attack the Ogre with some nice slashes. However, you need to be patient so don’t try to fit more attacks into that time frame and give yourself room to get away before the Ogre gets back up again. Most of the other attacks by the Ogre can be deflected. This means that some well-timed deflects can give you some extra chances to deal some damage. Now, just consistently repeat the same strategy over and over again and deplete the Ogre’s health. Now, you’ll get the prompt to perform a deathblow. The final deathblow will then result in Chained Ogre’s defeat and thus, your victory. Wasn’t so hard after all, was it?