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Sekiro walkthrough part 7 - Ashina Reservoir

There are loads of hidden paths and shortcuts in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, though they’re often blocked by bosses.

In the last part we finally said goodbye to the Hirata Estate, and in this guide, we’re going to take a look at two boss fights near Ashina Reservoir, as well as how to open up a few shortcuts.

Head through the Ashina Castle gate and on your left you should be given a prompt to touch the Remnant. There will be a passing comment about using a reed whistle being used to call on you from the Young Lord.

There are a bunch of enemies at the top of the stairs, but avoid them for now, and carry on to the left past the Remnant. Follow the path around and go through the large door in front of you. Enter the building and open the next door and go outside, near the tree, you’ll find some Scrap Iron and a Mibu Possession Balloon.

Go back into the building and grapple down to the level below to pick up the Pellet. Head down the stairs to your right and open the door to find a Sculptor’s Idol. Follow the path around to the left and you’ll see the bridge leading to Ashina Castle.

There are two guards in front of the Icon and you can eavesdrop on their conversation. They won’t attack you whilst you’re near the Idol. They talk about seeing a Shinobi around, unaware that you’re lurking a few feet away. Sneak up on one of them and fight off the other and his dogs.

Grapple on to the archway in front of you and you’ll see two large enemies below. One has a large baton and the other a mallet. If you look to your left you’ll see a grappling point beside a guard, so swing over and surprise attack him first. There’s another guy on your left that bags a gong to alert other enemies, so take them out before heading to fight the larger enemies.

After you take out the second guy, sneak under the house to your right and through the grass to find another guard keeping watch. Kill them, then move through the grass again to the next enemy near the ledge.

Down drop to the platform below then hang off the cliff edge and shuffle your way round to the left. Climb back up once you get to the next cliff edge and follow the path around to the right. Jump up to the cliff wall again to hang from it and shuffle round to the left again until you see the stone walls and platforms.

Jump up to the first platform then jump to hand from the second one that forms the foundation of a building. Climb along until you find the opening to the house and go inside. There’s a Remnant to your left and if you peek outside the door you’ll see a few guards and a boss, Seven Ashina Spears - Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi.

Seven Ashina Spears - Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi

Because you've snuck around the side of the cliff, you can sneak attack him first, then watch out for the other guy with a spear. Yamauchi fires loads of thrust attacks at you, which you really don't want to be on the end of. Use your Shuriken or the Firecracker often to interrupt him mid-strike and jump onto his unblockable attacks where you can.

It's quite easy to cheese this fight if you just continually double jump on the Seven Spears' head, slashing a couple of times as you land. He really doesn't seem to be able to do much about you stomping on him like a Goomba from Mario, so use this to your advantage to whittle down his health.

If you need to heal, remember that you can grapple up on the pagoda behind you for a breather.

Beat him and you’ll get a Prayer Bead for your troubles.

Lone Shadow Longswordsman

With the Seven Spears down, return to the Sculptor's Idol and rest.

From the Sculptor’s Idol at Ashina Reservoir, grapple onto the gate past the two guards then across to the left like you did before. When you kill the second guy, turn yourself to look towards the bridge in front of Ashina Castle, off the side of the cliff. Move as if you’re walking towards it and follow the cliff edge around to the right and grapple your way across.

You'll meet a strange man here that's apparently been beguiled by some strange music coming from the drain below. Ignore that first opening, and go further up the snowy path. You’ll see a gap in the ground where you can drop down to fight a Boss, the Lone Shadow Longswordsman. Jump down to perform a Deathblow from above. This boss moves pretty fast and can roundhouse kick you in the face, so dodge where you can and get a few hits in.

The Longswordsman has a really solid block, which means your Whirlwind Strike is good for whittling him down. Wait until the end of his combos, because each hit is fast and does a heck of a lot of damage. If you're struggling to deflect, just hold block, then retaliate with a Whirlwind Strike.

Upon killing him you’ll get Scrap Magnetite and a Prayer Bead and the road ahead will be unblocked. The area beyond will be very tough right now, so head back to the Ashina Castle Sculptor's Idol and rest.

In the next part we'll explore a whole new side path with its own bosses to beat and treasures to horde: Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo.

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

PS4, Xbox One, PC

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Lauren Aitken

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