Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa boss guide: How to defeat the samurai horseman

Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa boss guide
Image credit: PowerPyx/YouTube (Image credit: PowerPyx/YouTube)

The main issue most have with the Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa boss fight in Sekiro, is the assumption you should be dodging rather than parrying. Remember: you can always parry an attack that doesn't have a big red kanji symbol, and that's the secret to defeating Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa. With that in mind here's our guide on how to defeat the Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa boss in Sekiro. 

How to kill the Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa boss

Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa boss guide

Firecrackers do fantastic work against this horse-riding boss because the horse doesn’t like loud noises, so use them liberally if you need to break up his attacks. You also need to keep an eye out for any attempts to grapple onto him, these tend to come after he rides away from you. As he does so, run towards him and use your grapple to land a couple of hits before going back to the defensive. 

Despite what you might think, you are definitely going to want to stay close to Gyoubu. Get in close and make liberal use of the block/parry button in order to learn his move set and then punish it. The best attack to parry is a triple attack beginning with a right-handed slash and ending witha  slow overhead strike. If you can parry this you will stagger him and you can take the oppurtunity to return his attacks. 

While he does have two phases they are incredibly similar, he is just a bit more aggressive in the second phase. Utilise the same tactics as before and you will be able to topple this foe with minimal stress. If you are really struggling you can always beat Lady Butterfly first for an attack boost, but it really depends on how easy you find her.

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Jason Coles is a freelance writer and editor, covering gaming, tech, and fitness. Jason has written guides for 12DOVE and PC Gamer, reviews for Play magazine, and a host of other content for the likes of Eurogamer, Dicebreaker, and PCGamesN. Jason also served as the editor of The Indie Game Website and is passionate about helping new writers break into the industry with his Word Count Mentoring initiative.