How to Avoid Terror Damage in Sekiro
Terror damage is one aspect of Sekiro that you need to pay attention to at all times. In our complete Sekiro Terror guide, we'll be walking you through everything you need to know about the way the status effect works in FromSoftware's game.
What is Terror?
Sekiro features a whole host of demonic and scary monsters, and it's these terrifying enemies that can cast the 'Terror' status effect on you in Sekiro. The Terror status effect works like this: Every time you take a direct hit from a monstrous enemy, without blocking or sidestepping an attack to avoid damage, a light purple meter will appear near the bottom middle of the screen. This is the Terror meter.
When you first take damage from a terrifying enemy, the bar will jump up to a certain amount filled. Now, if you can avoid taking damage from the enemy for the next two seconds, the bar will begin gradually decreasing back down to zero. But, if you're forced to block an attack with your sword or a shield from a terrifying enemy, the bar will temporarily stop decreasing.
On top of this, the bar will fill up even more if you sustain a direct hit from a terrifying enemy. If the Terror bar fills up completely, you're going to sustain a massive amount of damage, potentially killing you outright if you're on less than three quarters of your full health. We're still trying to establish the exact amount of damage that being inflicted with Terror will do to you.
How to Get Rid of Terror
The basic rule of thumb with the Terror meter in Sekiro is that you absolutely need to avoid taking damage from scary enemies at all costs. Even if this means actually running away from the fight, it sure beats sustaining enough hits to fill the Terror meter, and being killed in the process.
Alternatively, there's one item that gets rid of Terror immediately. The Pacifying Agent item, which you can find randomly on slain enemies, immediately cancels Terror as soon as you use it. So it really pays to keep a stockpile of the item.
In Sekiro, you're likely going to know an enemy that can inflict Terror damage when you see one. For example in the footage just below from PS Underground, an enemy without a head, suitably known as 'The Headless,' can inflict Terror damage.
If the enemy looks like a monster, and behaves like a monster, then chances are it's going to inflict Terror damage on you. The general focus of Sekiro is to avoid getting hit, after all, so if you do sustain a hit and suddenly find that a Terror meter has appeared near the middle of the screen, act accordingly.
How to Block Terror
Currently, there's only one item in Shadows Die Twice that outright blocks terror from building up. This is the Large Fan, which you can recover from the room that you beat Long-Arm Centipede Giraffe in. If you're using this item and correctly use it to block incoming projectiles, it'll also block projectiles that deal Terror damage.
Hopefully that will help you through some of the harder sections of the game. Elsewhere on the site we have some tips on fighting Genichiro. Also, if you need help collecting Prayer Beads, head here.