How to Beat All Guardian Ape Bosses in Sekiro

You'll be facing off against the Guardian Ape in Sekiro a few times, and it's definitely one of the harder boss fights of the game. In our Sekiro Guardian Ape boss guide, we'll be detailing how to beat the Guardian Ape in Shadows Die Twice as easily as possible.

How to Beat the Guardian Ape in Sekiro

Firstly, we'll be providing you with some essential tips below for this boss fight. The Guardian Ape of Sekiro is one tough boss fight, and it's incredibly quick for its size.

• While it still has a head, you want to keep your distance from the Giant Ape, and run in for a quick one hit attack.
• When it picks up the sword, you can parry the ape's attacks.
• You want to look for the lunge attack, when the ape goes on the ground, and jump over it.
• When the second ape joins the fight, use the Firecracker to stun it.

When you enter the arena near the Bodhisattva Valley Sculptor's Idol, the fight with the huge Guardian Ape will kick off. This foe looks incredibly intimidating, with huge sweeping attacks that go back and forth across the battlefield. Start by unleashing your Firecracker Prosthetic, and get in behind for some solid hits on his ass (his weak point).

Guardian Ape Phase One

The aim of the fight with the Guardian Ape is to be skirting him to the right at all times, constantly trying to get a few hits in on his ass. Don't be afraid to spam the Firecracker at this point, as it's a really good tool for getting him to stay still for long enough for you to do some serious damage.

You need to try and close any gaps between you two as quickly as possible. Use the grappling points on the trees if necessary, because you want to avoid lingering around in front of him in open space. Keep dodging, hitting, letting off a Firecracker, and you should have no trouble whittling down the health of the Guardian Ape.

Guardian Ape Phase Two

Well, that was a cool finisher! But it's not over yet. Before phase two kicks off where the Guardian Ape now has a giant sword, you'll want to use either a Gohan's Sugar to buff your Posture, or Ako's Sugar to boost your attack power.

You're going to want to make sure you've got a Pacifying Agent equipped to your quick items for phase two of the Guardian Ape fight. This is because whenever a red kanji pops up on the screen, he does a screaming attack, which has an area of effect Terror build up. So in other words, sprint away whenever you see the red kanji, and get ready to use a Pacifying Agent straight away.

Other than that, you can now parry the sweeping attacks from the sword of the Guardian Ape, although it will take off a fair bit of your Posture meter. You need to keep circling the boss again, dodging his sweeping attacks as best as possible, and watch for his lunging attack where he belly flops onto the ground (although you can easily jump over this for a few good hits).

In the second phase, a good tool to use is the Sabimaru, since the Firecracker doesn't affect the boss anymore when their head is gone. If you can land in a few good hits with the blade to poison the boss, you can make the job of getting in a Deathblow a whole lot easier.

For your efforts in beating the Guardian Ape, you'll firstly obtain the Memory: Guardian Ape, which you can use to boost your attack power. Then, you'll obtain the Slender Finger Prosthetic Tool, which is basically a whistle that you can use to drive animals insane for a short period of time.

Sekiro Guardian Ape Ashina Depths Boss Guide

Guess, who's back, back again? The Guardian Ape is back for more at the very bottom of the Ashina Depths section of Shadows Die Twice. In this fight, the Guardian Ape starts off in his second form from the original fight in the Sunken Valley, carrying his head in one arm.

Guardian Ape Phase One

The good news is that the first stage of this fight with the headless ape is exactly the same as the second stage of the previous Sunken Valley fight. The tactic that worked best for us was to back off, jump over the sweeping attacks of the boss, and when when he lunges as you and temporarily lies on the floor, jump over him and land on his left, getting in a few hits before backing off again.

As with the initial fight, you're going to want to have a Pacifying Agent at hand for this battle. The Guardian Ape will still execute an area of effect scream attack, which you need to run away from immediately.

Guardian Ape Phase Two

Was one ape not enough for you? Excellent, because our headless Guardian Ape is about to be joined by another ape with a head for this second phase of the fight.

The key to winning this stage of the fight is that Firecracker Prosthetic. While it doesn't have an affect on the Guardian Ape, it can knock down and deal Posture damage to the lesser ape, letting you chip away at the health of the smaller ape for a brief few seconds.

One strategy is to ignore the lesser ape entirely. This has had mixed results for us, as since the lesser ape is nowhere near as aggressive as the Guardian Ape, it'll still really hit hard if you get caught under any of its attacks. All you need to listen out for if you're doing this is the roar of the lesser ape, as this means it's about to jump up and do a slam attack on the ground.

Yes, this fight is absolutely one of the hardest in the whole game. Patience is the key with this fight, as is keeping track of where you are in the relatively small arena, because you don't want to be pinned into a corner with either ape.

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.