Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

How to break an enemy’s Posture in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

How to break Posture and deal a Shinobi Deathblow in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

By

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is similar to other From Software games in many respects. You still make your way to bonfire-like checkpoint areas, battle incredibly powerful bosses, and collect resources to upgrade your healing items, but the flow of combat is completely different.

Rather than wear down an enemy’s health and dodge their attacks before repeating the process, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice requires you to focus on “Posture.” Both player-character Wolf and nearly every opponent you’ll face have a certain amount of Posture that must be broken before doing serious damage. Mastering Posture is the only way you’ll be able to succeed.

Recommended Videos

Here is how to break an enemy’s posture in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and how you can avoid having your own Posture broken.

Related

How to break an enemy’s posture in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

You can still kill enemies by wearing down their health bar, but the much more efficient way to do so in Sekiro is to break their Posture and deliver a Shinobi Deathblow. There are a few different ways to do this, and you need to know how to combine them to take down most enemies:

  1. Deal damage: As you deal standard damage to an enemy’s health bar or “Vitality”, their Posture meter will start to fill up. It will break when it’s completely full, leaving them open to a Shinobi Deathblow. Posture will start recharging after a few seconds of not being hit, but the rate at which it does so is directly tied to their overall health. In other words, an enemy with little health will be much easier to break than one with full health. If an enemy is close to having their Posture broken and they’re still guarding, you can also just hit their weapon to whittle the bar down some more.
  2. Block attacks: Characters’ Posture is also affected when they have their attacks blocked. By holding down the blocking button (L1 on PlayStation and LB on Xbox), you’ll stop non-elemental attacks from dealing direct damage, and your enemy’s Posture bar will fill up. Yours will, as well, so be careful with this strategy!
  3. Deflect attacks: Instead of holding down the block button, you can tap it just before an attack strikes you to deflect it back at enemies. In some instances, this is necessary for a fight, and if an enemy is already low on health, the Posture they lose by getting attacks deflected can actually be enough to leave them vulnerable to a Shinobi Deathblow.
  4. Stealth attacks: If you manage to sneak up on an enemy, you can deliver a Shinobi Deathblow without having to fight them at all. Either by dropping down on them from above or sneaking up behind them (make sure you’re crouched) and pressing the attack button, you’ll deal an attack that takes down one of their life bars. For certain mid-bosses, this is the perfect way to get an advantage going into a tough fight.

How to keep your own Posture in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Managing your own Posture is similar to managing stamina in the Dark Souls games or Bloodborne, but it’s slightly more complicated. Here are tips for how to keep your Posture unbroken during the toughest fights:

  1. Dodge: If an enemy’s attacks are slow or predictable, there’s no reason why you can’t just dodge them instead of blocking or deflecting. Dodging uses no Posture, and you can often get in a hit or two after dodging before an enemy starts blocking again. Against faster enemies, this technique is less useful.
  2. Block in between attacks: Your Posture’s recharging rate can be increased by holding down the block button. Doing this obviously means you won’t be swinging your sword or using another item, but holding the button for a few seconds can give you the Posture advantage that you need to win some encounters. Just make sure you go back to deflecting instead of blocking against the fastest enemies.
  3. Heal up: Remember how we said enemies’ Posture recharging rate is related to their overall health? So is yours! If your health is low, your Posture will recharge at a snail’s pace. Use your Healing Gourd whenever you have the opportunity to top yourself off and make the next clash a little easier to manage.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Player-made mod brings an Easy Mode to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro easy mode mod FromSoftware Souls games gameplay difficulty

No matter what side you landed on when discussing the difficulty of FromSoftware’s action RPG Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the creators of the game left it pretty clear that gamers would have to come up with their own solution if they wanted something easier. If you were one such gamer, the time is now. A modder has created “Sekiro The Easy” and it is available for download.

Twisted Voxel reported on the mod, which changes the player's abilities, enemy stats, how the world impacts the player, and items. The report says that Sekiro has become the fastest-selling new IP by FromSoftware and, potentially, this new mod will open up the door for players that purchased the game and gave up or have yet to try it out. Here’s the full list of changes the mod puts in place:

Read more
How to revive dead companions in Baldur’s Gate 3
Withers offering services to the player in Baldur's Gate 3.

You're given a good bit of leeway during battles in Baldur's Gate 3 before you or a companion actually bites the dust for good. While in battle, if a teammate does take enough damage to drop, they aren't dead then and there. Instead, they will be downed with a chance to roll every turn to get back up. If they roll successfully three times, the battle ends, or you use another character to pick them up, they're good. If they fail that roll three times, however, they will be completely dead. That can be harsh when you've become attached to certain characters and want to further their stories, so you'll be looking for any way you can to bring them back. Thankfully you do have a few options for reviving companions in Baldur's Gate 3, but just like respeccing, they aren't so obvious.
Pay Withers to bring them back

Withers is a friendly undead you can find in a secret room in the Dank Crypt found inside the Overgrown Ruins. After finding and speaking to him in his sarcophagus, he will offer you various services, one of which is bringing back any dead companions. He won't do this out of the kindness of his heart (probably because it isn't beating) and will charge you a heavy fine of 200 gold to do so. Still, that's a small price to pay to bring back a beloved character. Once paid, that character will appear in your camp where they would normally be, so there's no need to go back to their corpse and find them.
Use a scroll of Revivfy or learn it

Read more
Every video game delay that has happened in 2023 so far
The player skates toward the moon in Skate Story.

Few things feel as inevitable in the video game industry as delays. Ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, game delays have only become more and more common as developers find previously set timelines unrealistic and adjust their release plans accordingly. More than halfway through 2023, we've already seen some notable AAA games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Skull & Bones, and Pragmata delayed pretty heavily. Because video game release date delays are so common, it can be tough to keep track of every game that has had its launch date shifted in some way.
That's why, just as we did in 2021 and 2022, Digital Trends is rounding up every game delay that's announced throughout 2023. Here are the high-profile ones that have happened so far, listed chronologically by their new intended release dates.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR (March 16)

As Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is one of the best games for PlayStation VR, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, Supermassive Games' PlayStation VR2 successor, is a highly anticipated launch title for the upcoming VR headset. Unfortunately, it will no longer make PlayStation VR2's February 22 launch and will instead be released on March 16. On Twitter, a message from Supermassive Games says this delay will ensure that players "receive the most polished, terrifying experience possible" at release. The game was released on that date to mixed reviews.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (March 24)

Read more