Sekiro Boss Guide – How to Beat Samurai General Naomori Kawarada

While every enemy in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is tough, the one that you run into first that presents a true challenge is the Samurai General. This early game foe has two health bars to take out…or does he? Yes there are tricks to finishing this guy off, which you’ll want to do since the rewards are vital to future battles. Here’s how to beat Samurai General Naomori Kawarada in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

As I said, the Samurai General has two health bars you need to take out, but that doesn’t mean you have to fight fair. This early boss sits in an open area of the Ashina Outskirts with a few buildings to his back. This is a key mistake on his part. If you stick to the left side of the open area, you can sneak through a large portion of it, then grapple up to the nearby roof. From here, just get closer to the Samurai General and perform a deathblow from above by targeting him, jumping down, and pressing attack when the reticle turns red. This will take out the first health bar completely, making for half the effort in the rest of the battle.

After that the fight is actually pretty straightforward. You either need to deal enough damage to kill him or fill his posture gauge. For the Samurai General boss the latter is easier most of the time, so you need to focus on deflecting his incoming attacks with precise blocks. Time them right and you’ll add a lot to the posture gauge. Just keep an eye on your own and back away when you need to. You can even grapple to the roof again, but don’t let him lose focus on your or you’ll have to start all over again. Also watch for when he backs away and starts to focus himself, raising his hands as grey mist surrounds him. If he completes this move he will regain a ton of posture, so make sure you stop him with a quick sword strike or prosthetic move.

If things get too tough you can toss some Fistfuls of Ash at him to distract him for some time. Use this time to heal up or get to a safer spot before returning to combat. Just be patient and don’t let him get an opening on you. Watch for his attacks and dodge or deflect them, then hit him once before you retreat a bit and do it again. Do it enough and you’ll take him out and earn what’s likely your first Gourd Seed of the game.

Hopefully that helped answer how to beat Samurai General Naomori Kawarada in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.