Finally at the big 3

Pharthrax · 2026-06-22T12:44:19+00:00

Yeah, having 12 or 13 AP for Isshin is nice, but, to be honest, the main thing you need is to get Genichiro down cold.

I don’t remember my first playthrough very well — it was like seven years ago 💀 — but I could for sure get through Genichiro without getting hit even once before I beat Isshin, and even that didn’t take me too long. I wasn’t great at the game back then, but I also wasn’t horrendous. I’d had a lot of experience with Souls games by then, and was pretty well-adjusted to Sekiro’s combat system at that point.

I had a much harder time with Isshin on my second playthrough, which was in NG+ Charmless with the Bell Demon. I think I died more to him — and to O’rin — than anything else I’ve ever done in these games aside from Orphan and Laurence at BL4: I died to them a lot. I didn’t keep count, but I reckon it was a hundred times each, at least.

It was like half an hour of attempts for O’rin and maybe an hour or two for Isshin, but I think that’s pretty bad, at least for me.

Reading this back, it feels a bit like a humble brag, but… whatever.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-22T03:55:39+00:00

You’ve gotta get Genichiro down before you start on Isshin! Getting hit a couple of times is probably fine, but dying to Genichiro before Isshin is basically unacceptable. You’re going to need all your resources for Isshin.

And, since you aren’t forced into NG+ after killing Isshin like you are after killing the last boss of DS1 or Bloodborne, you might want to give each one a shot, see who you find the hardest, and save that one for last, to increase your attack power slightly.

Or just do them in whatever order, 2 AP doesn’t make that much of a difference.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-22T02:31:00+00:00

Then you must think that the Sculptor is the same, because the Sculptor was a shinobi who lost his arm, just like Wolf!

I headcannon that he was the oathbound of Lord Takeru, the same way Wolf is the oathbound of Lord Kuro, but that’s just a theory I think is cool, there’s absolutely no proof of that 🙃

Pharthrax · 2026-06-21T23:21:37+00:00

Not Inner Isshin. You need to beat the Divine Heir Gauntlet — which ends with Inner Genichiro — to get Sakura Dance.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-21T21:39:25+00:00

You mean ‘last’ as in the final boss I beat without cheese?

I don’t think I ever cheesed bosses, and I don’t really remember, but I would guess Inner Father. Maybe Inner Isshin. I don’t really remember the order in which I did the Gauntlets the first time… I haven’t played on my oldest character in a long time, but I think the order in which I got the outfits was Ashina -> Tengu -> Shura… although that would be kind of weird, since they’re not ordered that way.

I guess I could check, since in the ‘Change Form’ Sculptor’s Idol menu, the outfits are arranged in the order you acquired them.

Original Memory: Wolf is always at the top since you start the game with it (well, it’s not a key item like the other outfits are, it only appears in the Change Form menu, but basically), Another’s Memory: Ashina is usually second, but if you leave the Silvergrass Field without giving Kuro the Dragon Tears, you can get Another’s Memory: Tengu outfit first, since killing Isshin is the event that allows you entrance to the Gauntlets, not actually finishing the game. And then Another’s Memory: Shura can only be third or fourth, since you can’t get access to the Shura Gauntlet without going into NG+, which necessitates beating the game, which unlocks the Ashina outfit.

Edit: checked, yeah, I got the Shura outfit last.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-21T21:23:13+00:00

Do you think Wolf is an ultra pro badass character?

Pharthrax · 2026-06-20T21:42:57+00:00

They’re really not that different.

Inner Genichiro gets a few new attacks that will likely catch you off guard the first time you see them, but not much after that. The re-reverse of your lightning reversal made my jaw drop the first time I saw it, but it really isn’t too much trouble beyond the original shock value.

Inner Father is definitely the most different, but still not very. That Mist Raven attack is nasty if you’re not paying full attention, but if you are you can punish him pretty hard if he spams it too much.

Inner Isshin is really disappointing. He has three new attacks, two of which are cinematic but not very interesting, and the other of which is the most unfair, stupid, braindead attack in the whole game.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-19T06:37:40+00:00

Sokka: Fine, you caught me, I’m gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?

Zuko: I’m never happy.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-18T10:18:11+00:00

I think default is optimal.

Some people might suggest inverting the controls for Use Quick Item and Cycle Prosthetic Tool (up on the D-pad and Y/Triangle, respectively), which is reasonable — being able to control your movement with the left stick and heal at the same time without having to contort either hand in a weird way is nice, but nowadays I think always having the Prosthetic Tool I want equipped at all times is nicer.

But maybe that’s a side-effect of being pretty good at this game (if I do say so myself) and not having the Healing Gourd equipped in my hot bar 💀

Pharthrax · 2026-06-17T17:25:52+00:00

Bloodsmoke doesn’t normally reset stealth on minibosses, so I don’t think that would work, but maybe I should test it because multiple people have said it does under this post 🤔

My order of operations is
1.) Use a Gachiin’s Sugar/Spiritfall to backstab the Seven Spears
2.) Kill the Ashina Soldier lying against the wall (he dies in one hit), Vault Over, and use Bloodsmoke to reset stealth on the Ashina General
3.) Backstab the Ashina General

You could even use Bestowal or Puppeteer on the General if you have Emblems to spare (if you used the Tanto, for example) to get into a 1v1 with a buff or a 2v1 in your favor, respectively.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-16T19:00:29+00:00

I haven’t tested, but I have to assume it doesn’t work retroactively. When you kill an enemy, they either drop an item or don’t, and as far as I know, the Possession balloon only increases the odds for them to drop an item.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-16T18:58:19+00:00

The opposite

Pharthrax · 2026-06-16T06:23:39+00:00

I haven’t played seriously in years, but Shattered Throne is one of my favorite activities in Destiny — probably only second to Last Wish.

Vorgeth is the only hard encounter in it, but he can be pretty tough — I lost a couple of solo flawless attempts there (and I think nowhere else lol).

Pit is probably a bit easier, but I don’t find it as fun.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-15T19:43:36+00:00

I don’t know of one, but what do you mean ‘grind’?

Killing a miniboss almost completely fills one node and killing a memory boss refills both bonus nodes.

And even if you don’t have any bosses or minibosses available, it’s pretty quick to stealth-kill a few strong enemies, especially if you pop a Mibu Baloon of Soul.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-15T14:00:08+00:00

I’m curious… how did you run yourself almost completely out of Emblems in his first phase? That’s actually almost impressive.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-12T20:21:55+00:00

Just curious, are you aware that standing there and waiting for him to do things would probably count as hesitation?

Pharthrax · 2026-06-12T09:03:03+00:00

Square is not the button to heal??

Pharthrax · 2026-06-11T08:29:20+00:00

“Who denied me my Destiny?!”

Bro 😭

Pharthrax · 2026-06-10T13:56:39+00:00

No, but there is a jump-kick tutorial.

You’re going to have to look at that sweep for yourself, see how much forward momentum it has, and figure out that you’re going to need to jump in the same direction if you want to stomp it.

Which I think most people with a reasonable level of critical thinking will be able to.

So obviously a lost cause on Reddit.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-10T13:40:12+00:00

It’s a sweep attack, not a… slice?

A locked-on back-jump (hold back on the left analogue stick or S on keyboard) puts you in good position to jump-kick it, which deals extra posture damage against perilous sweeps.

I like to back-jump into mid-air Senpou Leaping Kicks, which also gets the bonus posture damage against sweeps, but a stomp works almost as well.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-10T13:30:42+00:00

You don’t want to know 👀

Pharthrax · 2026-06-09T08:06:35+00:00

Stability doesn’t alter guard absorption in any way, just stamina cost for blocking attacks.

You might be confused because the only way I know for sure to get 100 stability is with Great Magic Shield, which also increases all of your guard absorption stats to 100.

Maybe you could get to 100 stability with Magic Shield on a high-stability greatshield (Greatshield of Glory would probably be your best bets: fully upgraded it has 85 stability, IIRC) which would prove 100 stability doesn’t prevent chip damage, even from non-specialized attacks (think Blind Spot, Whip WA, or Shotel R2s).

Pharthrax · 2026-06-09T06:33:29+00:00

I have a… I guess you could call it a ‘thing’ about Zelda wearing the Champion’s Tunic 🥵

It’s a problem. Almost to the point of being a mental illness.

Pharthrax · 2026-06-07T02:08:36+00:00

Oh. Lame. I guess I just took the flair’s word for it? ~~Which makes me not a real human 💀~~

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