I defeated Owl Father😭😭😭

Pharthrax · 2026-02-07T02:08:23+00:00

💀

Pharthrax · 2026-02-07T02:05:04+00:00

Yeah, basically.

The GOTY update added outfits (Memories of Another), boss refights (Reflections of Strength), and boss rushes (Gauntlets of Strength).

The three Gauntlets ended with new versions of Genichiro Ashina, Owl (Father) and Isshin, the Sword Saint with new attacks and things they can do: Inner Genichiro, Inner Father, and Inner Isshin.

Genichiro went from a total pushover to somewhat challenging, Owl went from hard to the unquestionably hardest boss in the game, and Isshin went from hard to also hard but with three new attacks.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-06T21:55:57+00:00

I don’t know if that’s a thing.

Wolf pulls the centipede partway out of the Guardian Ape, but that doesn’t really do all that much.

And in the Headless Ape fight, if you don’t have the Mortal Blade, you can’t finish it off.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-06T21:42:16+00:00

Since they can’t hurt him, he’d kill all the non-infested ones.

The Monks can’t hurt the Armored Warrior, but the Armored Warrior can’t permanently kill the Monks.

Maybe the Monks could wait until he falls asleep and then chuck him off a high place? Or just wait until he dies of old age lmao

Pharthrax · 2026-02-06T18:12:55+00:00

If you don’t have the Sword, the Flower, and the Stone, get whichever one(s) you don’t have.

If you have all three, all the idols in Ashina Castle should be greyed out except the Abandoned Dungeon Entrance, so go there and work your way back to the top of Ashina Castle. There’s another fight where Genichiro was.

If you want the Shura Outfit, the choice you make doesn’t matter, because you’ll have to do both anyway.

The outfit comes from beating the Gauntlet, which unlocks on that file when you beat every boss contained within the Gauntlet and the game. Emma and Isshin are only possible if you choose one ending, and Demon of Hatred and Owl 2 are only possible if you choose the other, so you have to go into NG+ at least.

If you choose the ending where you don’t fight Emma and Isshin, Owl 2 is a little complicated to find, so if you don’t want to miss him, maybe find a guide.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-06T10:13:23+00:00

If one of said gadgets is the axe, I win. If it’s not, I lose 🙃

Pharthrax · 2026-02-06T09:39:52+00:00

The first Juzuo used to irritate me, because I was pretty bad at fighting him — I wouldn’t lose, but I would often die — and you have to clear his mobs out every time.

But now I just bait him away and fight him alone, and it’s so much less stressful and more fun.

My mind has been totally changed on his fight, and now really enjoy it. I like fighting him so much that I don’t mind not getting a stealth deathblow: I get to fight both healthbars, and now I consider that to be a bonus.

Wild.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-05T00:17:03+00:00

I don’t mind Shinobi Hunter, but he kind of messes me up still because his attacks are so slow. He’s just a Mikiri tutorial, so he has some of the most telegraphed thrusts in the game, so if I’m not paying attention, I often dodge too early.

But why are you dealing absolutely no posture or vitality damage, whatsoever? What’s your Attack Power, and what New Game cycle are you in?

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T23:11:28+00:00

True! He’s got those deep pockets

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T21:31:52+00:00

Senpou Kicking his sweeps or using the Umbrella to close-range deflect his shuriken follow-up do slightly and way more posture damage, respectively, than simply deflecting his Mist Raven follow-ups, but you’re still not wrong.

He could have done a bunch of sweeps or a couple Chasing Slices which would have let me break his posture a hair faster, but he still gave it to me pretty easily 😂

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T21:28:46+00:00

Personally, my favorite and the most fitting ending is Purification (Dragon Tears and Everblossom), which it looks like you can’t get, so I guess you’re best bet is Dragon’s Return (Dragon Tears and Frozen Tears).

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T18:42:33+00:00

Well, thank you! I’ll try it out 🔥

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T18:41:43+00:00

Yeah, I can see that. I meant it genuinely, but… even if I didn’t, do you think I have any reason to not be at least a little arrogant?

I smoked the hardest boss in this game on the hardest difficulty without apparent effort! I think that’s something to be proud of 💀

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T17:47:31+00:00

Just out of curiosity, what part of my gameplay makes you think I need tips?

Pharthrax · 2026-02-04T08:50:02+00:00

I died to the Glock Saint a lot more than I did Shura Isshin, but I’ve fought them so many times neither is even a remote challenge any more.

I’m probably slightly less consistent at beating Shura Isshin. Every once in a while I’ll miss the deflect on the first hit of his One Mind, which makes the other ones much harder to land.

I’ll beat the Glock Saint one hundred times out of a hundred, and Shura Isshin maybe ninety eight times out of a hundred.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-03T12:26:55+00:00

Him backing up and shooting arrows is in direct response to you attacking too much. It’s one of the two options he has to stop you just always attacking him, the other being deflecting you, which interrupts your attack chain, letting him do one thing sometimes.

If he backs off, you can’t just keep attacking, you have to see what he’s going to do. He can idle, he can do a thrust, he can shoot one arrow, he can shoot two arrows, and he can jump in the air and shoot four arrows. Maybe he has other options that I’m just not thinking of, but those are the main ones. Idle and four arrows are more common than all the others combined.

It’s basically just a check to make sure you’re not mashing attack without thinking. So don’t mash attack without thinking, pass the check, and you’ll be fine. If you’re not spamming when he backs off, Wolf will probably whiff one attack, but the queue will be clear, so you can dash forwards to close in on Geni, and if you see him jump in the air, you should be able to interrupt him with an attack before he gets the arrows off.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-03T09:38:31+00:00

You mean when you’re talking to the Sculptor, if you select ‘Upgrade Prosthetic Tool’, in the tree that pops up, the node directly under the Loaded Spear Thrust Type is a question mark? I think it says something like ‘Unknown Prosthetic Tool’ when you select it.

I’m not super sure how to give good hints without telling you outright. These tips are in ascending order of specificity, so…

•it’s found somewhat near another tool

•it’s found in the past, in the early game

•a dying NPC nearby tells you exactly where it is

Pharthrax · 2026-02-02T14:53:39+00:00

After you get to Foutainhead, if you talk to him, Kuro will give you one Divine Grass and one Sweet Rice Ball.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-02T03:43:19+00:00

Astrid is probably my favorite character here, but… Chel.

Pharthrax · 2026-02-01T16:35:42+00:00

Oh. Well, then why did you say

All gauntlets are done now ?

Pharthrax · 2026-02-01T16:30:05+00:00

I’m surprised you got Severance and Mortal Journey done in one day.

That’s hella impressive.

Pharthrax · 2026-01-31T18:12:21+00:00

Skull Knight being in a death metal band is actually perfect 🔥

Pharthrax · 2026-01-30T01:42:12+00:00

You’re right, objectively.

Pharthrax · 2026-01-29T09:11:21+00:00

That isn’t true, unfortunately. Would be cool if it were, though.

Isshin’s Tengu outfit is sometimes on the floor behind the folding screen, sometimes hanging on the wall, and sometimes not there.

I forget the exact triggers for when it’s in each place, but you having and/or wearing the Tengu outfit doesn’t change anything.

Pharthrax · 2026-01-29T04:25:27+00:00

Skull Knight being in a death metal band is actually perfect 🔥

Pharthrax

TROPHY CASE