A major part of Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is the Shinobi aspect of the game. Of course, if you see the word Shinobi, you will see stealth follow shortly after. While you cannot complete the entire game using stealth, you will still be able to use it from time to time in order to land Stealth Deathblows on unsuspecting enemies and even get past entire areas undetected.
Our Sekiro Stealth Combat Guide will show you everything you need to know about maintaining stealth, landing Stealth Deathblows, and everything associated with it.
Sekiro Shadows Die Twice Stealth Combat
Entering Stealth Mode in Shadows Die Twice is pretty basic. It is done by clicking the left analog stick, something the game will tell you.
Once you are crouched and in Stealth Mode, two things will change. You will be harder to see albeit still very visible. And more importantly, you will be very hard to hear.
Besides this, it is worth noting that every time you jump, climb, drop, or use your grappling hook, you will not be crouched after you gain your footing. Therefore, make sure you hit that left analog stick again upon doing any kind of parkour.
How to Maintain Stealth
Once you have initiated your stealth, the game of hunter and hunted comes into play. Enemies are able to detect you three ways:
- Hearing
- Seeing
- Being Alerted by Another Enemy
The crouched state makes the first two less likely to happen, so do not forget to hit that thumbstick.
When an enemy starts to see you, a yellow triangle will appear above their head as well as an indicator on your own screen if the enemy spotting you is off camera. The more the triangle fills up, the more they are becoming aware of your presence.
Once it is full, they will know something is fishy and go into their investigative state. This is a good opportunity to run, hide, or kill the investigator before they notify anybody.
The bar does empty out if you stay away long enough, but if it turns red, you are spotted. After that, the spotting foe will call their friends unless you kill them first.
Lastly, while sneaking around, you can eavesdrop on your enemies. This allows you to gain info. on things like patrol routes so be on the lookout for chatty enemies. Pay attention to what they say as well!
In any stealth game, using the environment to your advantage is very important! Sekiro is no exception to this mechanic.
In Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, there is a lot of the environment that you can use such as tall grass, hanging from a ledge, on a rooftop, and even in a shrine.
Just keep in mind that some of these spots can be rendered useless by occurrences in the game. You cannot hide in the grass if it is burned off.
Dangling from a ledge does not help if there is an enemy on a vantage point behind you, and shrines do not work if people see you going into them.
Stealth Deathblows
Not to be confused with Shinobi Deathblows which only occur during full-frontal combat. Stealth Deathblows do operate similarly in the sense that they let you kill the enemy in a brutal cinematic way.
The catch with these blows is that you can only do them on unsuspecting enemies. Here is the specific type of Stealth Deathblows you can perform:
Wall Hug
This Deathblow involves reaching around a corner after hiding behind a wall to yank an enemy into cover and execute them. This Deathblow is a great way to kill off isolated enemies undetected.
Plunging
A throwback to the days of plunging attacks in Dark Souls. The Plunging Deathblow is done by landing on an unaware enemy from the high ground.
Ledge Hang
This Deathblow requires the player to be positioned on a ledge just below an enemy’s feet. If they pass within the appropriate radius, you can execute them before climbing up.
Backstab
Another throwback! This Deathblow just needs you to sneak up behind an unaware enemy to perform it. Easy peasy!
Using Deathblows Wisely!
Just because you can kill an enemy does not mean you should immediately go for it. The sound and visibility you sacrifice when executing somebody can lead to your cover being blown.
Sometimes, the best option to remain sneaky is just going through the area without engaging anybody.
If you have a boner for murder though, you can always lure enemies away from their groups to kill stealthily. Items in game can help you do this. Coupled up with the Wall Hug Deathblow is your best bet to kill somebody and remain undetected.
Using Skills and Items
Several skills that you can acquire to improve your stealth definitely help a lot. Suppress Presence and Suppress Sound, for example, are two skills that make you harder to detect in both regards. They are also very easy to get early in the game.
Another skill called Run and Slide is a good way to pop in and out of Stealth Mode quickly. Since the ability makes the Wolf automatically slide to a stop after you end a sprint.
There is also a few items that can help your ninja cosplay. One important item is Gachiin’s Sugar, a consumable that makes you even harder to detect. This, coupled with the skills mentioned above, makes sneaking a cakewalk.
Fistful of Ash is also a useful item that allows you to either distract hostiles for Deathblows or give yourself a window to escape and hide. Using the Nightjar Monocular is also a good way to scope out an area and spot every enemy before going in. Remembering their positions is your own struggle though.
Tips and Tricks
As a FromSoftware game, the learning curve to Sekiro Shadows Die Twice relies heavily on trial and error. Do not get frustrated if you screw things up since that is how you are meant to learn the game properly.
It will also make sure you do not repeat the same mistake twice. The real defeat is not in loss, it is in giving up after a loss. A true SoulsBorne player never gives up.
I have found that in any stealth game, it really helps to play the Pink Panther theme music while sneaking around. Makes you invincible. Anyways, good luck!
We hope our Shadows Die Twice Stealth Guide helped you a little. If there is anything else that you would like to add, let us know!
