Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has its fair share of intimidating bosses and set-piece enemies that are designed purely to give you a hard time. While you're actually able to avoid a fair few fights that might put you in a pickle, there are just some foes that you can't shake. Our Sekiro Chained Ogre guide will show you how to dispatch this beast in the Ashina Outskirts, tactics and all.
The Chained Ogre is an easy one to find. You can't miss them on your travels through the world; they'll likely be one of the first few bosses that you encounter in the game close to the Outskirts Wall. Killing them will net you some Shinobi Medicine and a prayer bead. Read on to find out what strategy will work best against this beast.
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Let's get one thing straight before we get on to the bulk of our Sekiro Chained Ogre guide. If you encounter an enemy with red eyes in this game, that means that they're vulnerable to fire. You'll be able to eavesdrop on some nearby guards before you actually approach the Chained Ogre proper at the top of the stairs who will tell you as much. At this point in the game, you might not have the Shinobi Prosthetic that lets you essentially shoot flames at your opponents. If you do have it, it'll stagger the Ogre and let you get some cheap shots in when they try to shield themselves from the flame.
The strategy for the Chained Ogre fight won't look too different depending on whether or not you have the Flame Vent prosthetic. Sure, it'll make it a little easier on you if you're able to weave in a little staggering here and there, but the bare bones of what to do don't fundamentally change at all.
Sekiro Chained Ogre Guide: Before the Fight
It's a smart idea to clear out the enemies roaming around the stairs that lead up to the Chained Ogre. The Ogre will aggro onto you once you're about halfway, and our strategy involves trying not to fight them on higher ground at all cost so you're really going to want to make sure that you have enough room to kite the Ogre around without running into something else that wants to stab you in the back. There's also another enemy past the Ogre which will aggro if you make it to the top of the stairs, so it's really up to you if you want to zoom past the boss to dispatch that foe to give you a bigger combat arena to work with, or if you just want to focus on kiting down the stairs.
Sekiro Chained Ogre Guide: Fight Strategy
One of the easiest ways to get cheap opening damage onto the Chained Ogre is to remember that death blows are a thing. The Ogre has a two-hit death blow gauge, which means that you can essentially cut down the time of your skirmish significantly by getting one of these shots in. When you first aggro the Ogre, lure him down the path and leap out of line of sight until he starts walking back up the stairs. Stealth behind him and go in for said blow, and this will cut his health in half before the fight really starts.
Flame Vent prosthetic aside, the easiest way to get some chip damage onto the Chained Ogre is to launch yourself at them with a flurry of blows. This will eventually result in the same effect - the boss will eventually be staggered and you're going to be able to get some slashes in.
Once the boss recovers from being staggered, however, they're likely going to go in for a grab. This will be indicated by the red kanji that flashes over your head. Dodge to the side, and not back. The upside of the Ogre is that they often overextend their reach, and trying to grab you will result in them leaving themselves vulnerable to a few extra blows before they can right themselves and go on the offensive again.
If you're wanting to be a little more proactive than just waiting for the Chained Ogre to flail around after being overconfident, you can be smart about Step Dodging to avoid its reach and grappling onto its collar when it passes. This will let you get in some hits of your own. All of the Ogre's attacks aside from the unblockable ones can also be deflected, no matter how significant they might look.
Rinse and repeat the above strategies enough times and you should be able to whittle the Chained Ogre's health down to a paltry zero before taking them out. As mentioned, it's a fight that leaves you with a more easily obtained opportunities to do damage if you have the Flame Vent prosthetic, but the rest of the strategy in our Sekiro Chained Ogre guide is easily translatable no matter what mods your arm is rocking. Give the fight a go and keep an eye 0ut on the other guides that we'll be putting out for the game's biggest and baddest bosses.