Demon of Hatred - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Guide - IGN (2024)

The Demon of Hatred is an optional boss found within Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The result of the sculptor's affliction, he turns into a massive beast that can be found in a side area found in the endgame.

To get to the Demon of Hatred, you'll have to have beaten the Divine Dragon. This will trigger the Ashina Castle to enter into night, and along with it, the whole area will be overrun in chaos and civil war. You'll be asked to go to the secret entrance from the very beginning of the game to face off against the Final Boss. However, to face this monstrosity, you'll have to take a detour.

Head to the Old Grave part of Ashina Castle, the Sculptor's Idol is locked but you should be able to get there without too much hastle. You'll find that the previously raised bridge has been lowered, and you can now traverse across it back into the Ashina Outskirts. Keep in mind that there will be enemies here on the way to the Demon of Hatred that you'll need to take out.

After crossing the bridge, you'll work backwards through the Ashina Outskirts, eventually arriving in the area where you fought your first real mini boss, General Naomori Kawarada. Here you'll find a Sculptor's Idol that will transfer you to another Sculptor's Idol found in the boss arena of Gyoubu Oniwa. However, now you'll see a giant monstrosity killing Ashina soldiers in the center of the area. This is the Demon of Hatred, and he's no joke.

Video Guide: Demon of Hatred Boss Fight

The Demon of Hatred is actually the Sculptor, now transformed into a monster covered in red fur. Where before he was missing his left arm, just like you, it's now replaced with a fire claw that can transform into all manor of shapes and forms.

We're not going to lie, the Demon of Hatred one of the most difficult fights in the game. Every hit he's able to land on you does half a health bar of damage or more, and his fire arm attacks, even when parried, can quickly cause burning build up if not carefully avoided.

The biggest hurtle you'll find early on is the paradox of how you should be fighting this hellspawn. With his size and the range of his attacks, initially you'll likely be trying to bait his attacks before running in. You'll find this less effective than the primary way you should engage this whole fight: up close. It sounds wrong given how this monster looks and fights in comparison to the human enemies in the game, but you should fight this guy the same way you've fought everything else thus far: aggressively, up close, and with careful timing. We'll break down the individual phases of the boss fight and how to deal with each attack down below. Good luck Shinobi.

Demon of Hatred Phase 1

While you first enter the arena, you'll notice the Demon of Hatred preoccupied with destroying some foot soldiers in the battlefield. However, after this first initial encounter should you die and respawn, you'll find the Demon of Hatred in the Arena by himself.

You'll want to rush to him to begin the fight. He'll strike a pose, allowing you to get some quick hits in before he begins to attack you. Throughout this first phase, you'll mostly want to hug near the Demon''s right leg. He has a very large pool of health, so focus on continuously striking as fast and as often as possible, pausing only when you see attacks coming in to parry. He won't block any of your attacks, so wail away.

While staying under his legs, there are a few staple attacks to look out for. Firstly he has a two foot slam, where he'll slam his left foot then his right foot, with both targeting the Wolf. Both of these can be parried. Often times, the first foot will miss if you're hugging the right leg, but we found ourselves blocking just in case. Another attack he'll employ is a two swing combo of his fire arm, followed with a right foot slam and one more fire arm swing. If you're close enough to him, the first two swings will sail completely over your head, allowing you to continue swinging. In this case the only attack you'll need to block is the foot slam, which will push you back, so make sure to rush back in, specifically leaning to your left as he follows up with one more fire arm attack as well on your right side. He also has a headbutt attack. He will slam his head straight in front of him, and can repeat this three times as well. We liked to dodge to the left on this one and keep swinging.

There are two attacks you'll need to look out for that you can't block. The first is when you see his whole body flame up, and he'll spring into the air, coming back down in a large explosion. When this animation starts, run the opposite way outside of the blast radius. Once at a safe distance, turn around and as he lands you'll see a grapple point on him you can use. Do so quickly though, as a blast of air follows the explosion, pushing you back far enough away that he'll begin to use longer range attacks.

Another attack you won't be able to block is his charge attack. You'll see the Perilous symbol appear over your head and he'll rush you with his right claw dug into the ground. This is a one hit KO, and must be avoided. Unfortunately, there's only one specific way to guarantee not getting hit by it, jump left. If you do this, you won't be hit with this devastating attack, but you will be left far away from the beast.

When at a range, Demon of Hatred has several tools at his disposal. He has a large jump attack that lets him close the distance on you, as well as a three swing combo ending in a fire arm slam that stretches a very long way across the battlefield. The hardest one to deal with is his ability to throw a row of fireballs at you. The best way we've found to deal with this is to continue rushing at him. His animation will send the fireballs to where you were, having them sail over your head. This only works if you start rushing him at a close enough distance. If you're too far away when he starts this animation, you'll likely be hit. This is a gauge of distance you'll have to learn throughout the fight, but general rule of thumb for this attack is just rush straight at him and nine times out of ten you won't get hit.

Continue to chip away at his health sticking close to those legs and you should eventually work your way into Phase 2.

Here’s a rundown of attacks to look out for:

Attacks:

• Left Foot Slam - Right Foot Slam. Parry both of these and keep attacking.
• Fire swing - Fire Swing - Right Foot Slam - Fire Swing. If at close enough range, the first attacks will sail overhead. However you can also parry them to be safe. Parry the right foot kick and then dash to the left to avoid the last swing while you keep attacking.
• Left Arm Swing - Fire Swing. Usually used as you're rushing in. Parry the first attack, and the second should miss if you're at his legs.
• Headbutt. He can slam his head up to three times. Dodge left and keep swinging.
• Left Arm Push. A singular attack used as you're rushing in. Parry or block it if you see it coming.
• Fireball throw. Continue to run towards the Demon and the fire will sail overhead.

Perilous Attacks:

• Jumping Explosion. Run backwards out of the blast radius then use the given grapple point to re-engage at close range.
• Right Claw Charge. Only one way to avoid this one: jump to the left.

Demon of Hatred Phase 2

Well done Shinobi, you've made it to Phase 2, and thankfully, there's only a few new editions added to the combat arsenal here. The main objective of the fight remains the same as in Phase 1: stay as close as possible and continuously hack at those feet.

This biggest changes with this Phase come when you're fighting at a range, and specifically after the Demon uses his Perilous Charge attack. Now, instead of strictly flinging fireballs at you, he has two other options as well. Once you've dodged the charge and begin running back towards him, if you see him start to swirl his fire arm as if he's winding up, run to the right. He slams it down, sending a floor of fire out across the entire battlefield. As he slams it and you're running right, jump into the air avoiding the fire floor. As you do so, you should see a grapple marker appear over his head just like with the explosion attack. Use this to regain the close range combat advantage.

His other new attack is extremely hard to deal with, but also used far less frequently, to the point that you may not even see it in the Phase. Similarly to the Fire Floor Slam he uses at long range, this is also a long range attack. He'll cast large fireballs with tracking on you. These can be really tricky to deal with. In general continue running at him in a diagonal. If you see one about to hit you, jump and it may miss. This attack is less predictable than the others, but continuing at a diagonal towards him is your best bet of not getting hit.

Thankfully, these are the only new moves added to the arsenal. Everything else remains the same, so avoid these and you should make it to Phase 3...eventually.

Here's those new attacks again:

• Fire Floor Slam. Used at long range, the Demon will swirl his fire arm before bringing it down in a huge slam the releases a floor of fire. Run to the right and jump as the attack hits the ground, using the given grapple point to get back to close range with the Demon.
• Tracking Fireballs. Perhaps Demon of Hatreds hardest attack to deal with. Run at a diagonal towards him, jumping when needed to avoid taking damage from these pesky attacks.

Demon of Hatred Phase 3

Alright Wolf, home stretch now. You're almost there. There's a couple new mechanics here to learn, specifically one that forces you to remain at close range with the Demon, but if you've been following the guide thus far, that should be nothing new to you.

The biggest change to this Phase is you'll be asked in several was to avoid the a rope of flame the Demon can drag on the ground. The first attack you'll need to learn is also one that drastically changes how much room you have to fight. He'll swing his fire arm in a rope of flame in circles around him three times. The first swing you'll need to hop over. The second you'll want to stay on the ground, while the third you'll once again jump over. On this third rotation, a ring of flame will be created around you and the Demon, decreasing the room you have to work. This shouldn't matter too much, since you want to keep at his feet anyway.

The second rope attack to look out for is now after the charge attack, he'll charge once again dragging his flame rope on the ground. Simply hop over it and get back to fighting. This can be slightly harder to realize at first should he rush out of the flame ring, and then back in with the rope so look out for that.

Finally the radius of the explosion that he executes when falling from the sky on his jump attack increases a bit, so run back a little further before grappling in.

These three new attacks are in addition to the ones added in Phase 2 and the originals from Phase 1, so while you have a lot to juggle, hopefully you have gotten most of the timing down by this point. Keep hacking and parrying and eventually you'll take him out, we promise. Good luck.

Here's what to look out for now:

• Flame Circle Attack. Three circle swings. Jump over the first Perilous sweep. Stay grounded for the second. Jump over the third.
• Charge with Added Flame Rope Sweep. After the Charge used in the Previous rounds, Demon has the option to come at you again with a sweep you'll need to jump over.