Good abilities for start in Sekiro Shadow Die Twice Sekiro guide, walkthrough

Last update: 25 March 2019

Unlocking new skills can be very helpful in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. However, they aren't easy to get. Thanks to this page, you will learn which skills are the most important and useful. We highly recommend getting them when you are early into the game.

• General tips for unlocking skills
• The most important skills in Sekiro
• Other important skills in Sekiro

General tips for unlocking skills

1. Don't try to get all the available skills right away. Some of them aren't useful at the beginning of the game. Besides that, every new level requires more XP - this can lead to a situation where you will need a lot of XP to get a new skill point. For more information, check out Gold and XP Farming page. This chapter should help you find good farming spots.
2. Some skill books aren't available right away. You can get three of them during the first few hours with the game. Shinobi Esoteric Text contains the most important skills regarding the basic combat. Prosthetic Esoteric Text helps with prosthetics. Ashina Esoteric Text offers alternate ways of attacking enemies. More information about these skill books in Esoteric Texts chapter.
3. Buy cheaper skills first - the ones that require 1-2 skill points. However, you should still try to get a few of the more expensive ones (those that cost 3-5 skill points).
4. Don't buy too many Combat Arts - you can only use one at a time. Having a few of them is recommended for the later stages of the game to adjust your build to a boss. However, one Combat Art is enough when you are early into the game. We recommend getting the last skill from the Shinobi Arts tree - Shadowrush.

The most important skills in Sekiro

1. Mikiri Counter; Shinobi Arts - Probably the most important skill in the game. It allows you to counter unblockable thrusts. Useful both in weakening bosses and eliminating many lesser enemies.
2. Breath of Life: Light; Shinobi Arts - A very important passive skill. Thanks to it, you are able to restore a few health points every time you perform a Deathblow on an enemy. This skill will limit your usage of Healing Gourds and other medicaments. When you receive too much damage, find a weaker enemy and perform a Deathblow on them to get a few health points back.

1. Shadowrush; Shinobi Arts - This is the final skill for this ability tree. To unlock it, you need to get through the entire skill tree and then spend 6 skill points on it. This skill is worth the purchase - you will learn about that during fights with bosses and other powerful opponents. Shadowrush is a powerful thrust with your katana that will launch you into the air where you can perform a few more attacks. Thanks to this skill, you will be able to avoid enemies' attacks.
2. Emma's Medicine: Potency; Prosthetic Arts - One of the most important passive skills. It improves the healing capabilities of various medicaments. This is especially helpful during the early parts of the game when you don't have many Healing Gourds or other medicaments. Buy Emma's Medicine: Aroma after making more progress in the storyline.

Other important skills in Sekiro

Check out these skills after you get the ones listed above. Here are our recommendations:

1. A Shinobi's Karma: Body and A Shinobi's Karma: Mind; Shinobi Arts - They are both passive skills that increase the number of carried Spirit Emblems. You consume these items when you are using Combat Arts and prosthetic tools.
2. Suppress Presence; Shinobi Arts - This passive skills makes you harder to detect. Helpful in locations where you can stealth kill many enemies.
3. Vault Over; Shinobi Arts - Thanks to this ability, you are able to jump over a stunned enemy who has lost its entire posture bar. You will be able to perform a more powerful back attack. This skill becomes even more useful once you defeat the boss at the Ashina Castle's rooftop and unlock the first ninjutsu.
4. Grappling Hook Attack; Prosthetic Arts - Sadly, the grappling hook isn't that useful in attacking enemies. Despite that, this skill can help you in certain situations. It is cheap, too - it costs only 1 skill point.
5. Fang and Blade; Prosthetic Arts - A passive skill thanks to which you can perform a combined attack with both your katana and a prosthetic tool. It works exceptionally well with the Loaded Axe. You can either use both the katana and a prosthetic tool or attack with a tool first and then follow it with the katana.
6. Ascending Carp; Ashina Arts - Thanks to this passive skill, you will be able to deplete enemies' posture bar faster through deflecting. You will appreciate this skill during boss fights where depleting the posture bar is a better way of defeating a boss.