Sekiro’s Corrupted Monk boss fight near Mibu Village’s Water Mill Sculptor’s Idol is a perfect example of how learning translates to winning.
The worst mistake you can make is attacking without a plan. In this guide, we’ll show you how to defeat the Corrupted Monk with the most effective Shinobi Prosthetic, items you should bring with you, and strategies to identify and react to her attacks.
The best Prosthetic Tools, items and skills for the Corrupted Monk
There are always items and attacks that work well against Sekiro bosses. These are our recommendations for the best things to bring to your fight with the Corrupted Monk.
- Shinobi Firecracker. We recommend this all the time for good reason: It disrupts enemy attacks and gives you a small window to attack (or regain your composure). We’ll show you how below.
- Divine Confetti. We’ll stop short of recommending this item because it’s supremely rare, but it is effective on translucent purple enemies like her. Use it, and you’ll deal significant Posture damage.
There are surely other attacks and items that work well, but these are our favorites. Feel free to bring your favorite Combat Art. You don’t need anything else.
Approaching the Corrupted Monk boss fight
The closest Sculptor’s Idol to the Corrupted Monk is the Water Mill, but there are several enemies in your way. Ignore them — especially the ghost on the bridge. Save your health for the boss fight.
Corrupted Monk strategies, tips, and tricks
General strategies
This is another battle of attrition, whittling down the Corrupted Monk’s health in tiny chunks until she’s so low on Vitality that she can’t regain her Posture. Then you’ll move in for a Deathblow.
To do that, you need to learn her moves and how to respond. She has a lot of them, but not as many as it seems. (Weird, but true.) Once you can identify what she’s doing, you’ll be fine.
Keep in mind that the Corrupted Monk can chain attacks into combos. It’s not always safe to attack as soon as you identify the end of a combo. She could do a combo and finish it with a jumping back attack, for example. When in doubt, block or get away.
Starting the fight
You can score a few free hits on the Corrupted Monk when you get into the arena. Run up to her, and take a few swipes — but don’t get greedy. You’re there to deal damage, not receive it. Back off and wait for her to attack you.
Corrupted Monk attacks
Let’s talk about the Corrupted Monk’s attacks, how to identify them, and what you should do when you see them.
Perilous Attack 1: Sweep
A red kanji appears above Sekiro’s head, and the Corrupted Monk swings her weapon horizontally. You can avoid this with a Step Dodge, but a jump is better. Jump over the attack, and then press jump again to deal substantial Posture damage.
Perilous Attack 2: Stab
The red kanji appears over Sekiro’s head, and the Corrupted Monk stabs at Sekiro. You can jump away or Step Dodge to the side and counterattack. Or you can press the Step Dodge button to catch the weapon, perform a Mikiri Counter and deal Posture damage.
Regular attacks are best when she has lots of Vitality, but the Posture-Focused Mikiri Counter is better when her health is low.
Single attacks
The Corrupted Monk has a handful of single attacks. She’ll swipe once, and that’s the end. They’re rare, and there’s not much you can do about them, but you should be aware of them.
Jump away
The Corrupted Monk swipes her weapon and jumps away from Sekiro. You can Deflect this or just get away. Either is fine.
Three-swing attacks
The Corrupted Monk has several three-swing attacks. Whether she swings from the left or the right or up, start counting. You’re reasonably safe when she gets to the third attack. Just don’t respond until you’re confident that she’s not tacking another attack (or more) onto the end.
Charge, swipe, jump, overhand
The Corrupted Monk charges Sekiro (at least if she's far away), swipes with her weapon, jumps, and then finishes her combo with with an overhand attack.
Deflecting the final attack after her floaty jump is about as easy as deflecting gets in this boss fight. A Step Dodge to the side is better, because it gives you the opportunity to counterattack and deal Vitality damage.
Jump forward attacks
There are two variations of this attack, both of which begin with a jump toward Sekiro. The first one ends with a horizontal slash. The second ends with a diagonal attack.
Block them or get out of the way. You can Step Dodge to her side to follow up with attacks of your own (assuming that she doesn’t immediately transition into another attack, which she sure can do).
Five-spin whirlwind
Before the Corrupted Monk begins this attack, she’ll raise her weapon over her head and hold it horizontally. That’s how you know that her five-swing spinning whirlwind is coming.
You can Deflect these, but you’ll be staggered at the end (which doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll donate all of your Posture to her). Block. Deflect. Follow her whirlwind up with the Shinobi Firecracker to stun her and get a few attacks in.
Or, if you need health, run away. It takes her a moment to recover, and you can get in some safe distance.
Combos with bumps
The Corrupted Monk does a series of attacks — sometimes three, sometimes four, maybe more, maybe less — that form a combo. Watch for her second-to-last attack. She’ll hold her weapon horizontally and try to bump Sekiro.
That’s a clue. It means that she only has one more attack to go.
Watch for the bump. Block once more. Respond.
Sekiro’s attacks
Most of this fight is about responding to the Corrupted Monk’s attacks, but we should also point out what to do when you’re on offense. And, in fact, there’s really only two things to do here.
The first is to respond to her attacks with one or two attacks of your own — and limit your response because she’s more than happy to interrupt your attacks with her own.
Shinobi Firecracker
As it is basically everywhere in Sekiro, the Shinobi Firecracker buys you time to recover or attack. This is particularly effective to use after one of her flurries. She pauses momentarily, and you can take advantage of that like we do above.
Corrupted Monk drops, items, and rewards
Defeat the Corrupted Monk, and you’ll receive the Memory: Corrupted Monk and the Mibu Breathing Technique, which lets you dive and breathe underwater.
