Ashina Reservoir | Sekiro Shadows Die Twice Wiki

Full Ashina Reservoir Walkthrough

Moving Forward

Sekiro is very low on health as the game starts, but there is no danger of combat for the time being. Proceed forward, pick up the Ornamental Letter, and then go through the tutorial. X to Jump, X near a wall to Double-Jump. You will emerge to a snowy pathway, look behind you and proceed that way to find a broken section of the floor. This is where the letter was dropped, and there's no reason to jump down.

Go back to the tunnel exit and proceed forward and you will be instructed to press Square to wall hug. You can know which walls are huggable by white scratchings on them. Once you hug a wall, use the directional L button to shimmy alongside the edge. Pressing L toward the edge of the wall will trigger a "Peek" view that allows you to see what is ahead without exposing yourself.

Once you're ready, press Square to let go of the wall and the Stealth tutorial will begin. You must get past these guards undetected, as you have no sword. You can listen in on a conversation that they have about Sekiro having lost his will to live and being of little concern.

Click the Left Thumbstick to go into stealth on the grass and slowly make your way to the left. You will be prompted about "Underfloor Movement" - Wolf can slip into tight spaces such as beneath floors when crouched. Follow the grass to the underfloor of a nearby structure. Here you have your first opportunity to Eavesdrop.  Look up, on the broken floor and press down on the Dpad to trigger this conversation. The "Eavesdrop" icon gets a red "tick" marker when you have listened to the conversation.

Proceed to the other end of the underfloor and exit through some more tall grass. Another Eavesdrop position will appear, where the soldiers mention a broken portion of the tower. The gate is locked, but you may be able to get in through this broken wall.

You will now get a tutorial to Ledge Hang. Similarly to Wall Hug, you press Square to hang from a ledge, then the directional L thumbstick to move alongside it. Press Square to climb back up. You can recognize climbable walls by the white paint on the edges, so be on the lookout for it when exploring.

Shimmy to the end of the ledge and then jump across a broken stone bridge to continue forward to another ledge, this time you have to jump (x) then press Square in mid-air to grab onto the surface. Shimmy works the same way as before, so just use your directional thumbstick to move along the edge and then square to climb up. From here, jump up to higher ground and then jump and grab again to hold onto the ledge of the tower. A nearby hole to the left will grant you entry.

Meet Kuro, the Divine Heir

A cutscene plays, and Kuro will be grateful for your presence, and give you your Katana: Kusabimaru, and ask for your life as a pledge of service. This unlocks the first trophy of the game "Revered Blade". You may now talk to Kuro and he will mention that you are wounded, and give you the Healing Gourd. This item acts much as the Estus Flask did in the souls series, giving you a limited amount of heals until you rest at a Sculptor's Idol. Kuro will ask if you were further wounded "after that", and Sekiro will reveal he does not remember what "that" is and what happened "that night". Kuro says you can talk about it later and tasks you with helping him escape Ashina Castle.

He mentions there's a secret passage beneath the mote's bridge, that he heard from Lord Isshin about it. You are to find this passage and then do a "reed whistle" so that he knows to join you at that time. After this, a tutorial for Quick Items displays on the screen: Cycle through them with the right and left D-pad buttons, and use by pressing up on the Dpad. It is important to note that you MUST slot items manually, so make sure to slot your Healing Gourd and heal right away. Do not slot anything unimportant or not urgent here or you might accidentally use it in combat.

Before exiting through the main door, go upstairs and you can collect a Pellet quick item. These act as the gems of Dark Souls 2, giving you slow and steady Vitality recovery over time.

Heal yourself from your wounds and open the door. You can now crouch and go forward and attempt to avoid combat, or you can engage with the enemies ahead. You will receive a tutorial for Posture and Deathblows. You will also be told you can lock onto targets by clicking the R3 button (right thumbstick) - this works very similarly to how it did in the Souls series. From here, you will be given a Deflection tutorial. Deflecting is not the same as Blocking nor is it the same as "Parry" from the souls series, so be prepared to approach it in its own unique way.

There's a gate with 4 guards ahead, you can climb onto the rooftops and get one out of the way by jumping down and pressing R1 as his lock-on indicator turns red.

Your First Mini-Boss

From here, you will be faced by Mini-Boss Leader Shigenori Yamauchi. A Counter-slash tutorial will show, telling you to deflect with L1 just as an attack lands, and pressing R1 to execute a counter. You don't have to do this to defeat this enemy, you can just fill up his posture gauge and execute a Deathblow. You will, however, receive a tutorial that Mini-Bosses require several Deathblows to be defeated, which is indicated by the red circular icons on the top left of the screen where their name is displayed.

Defeat him blocking his attacks and countering as best you can. Be mindful that, contrary to souls, you should ALWAYS HOLD BLOCK. Holding Block makes your Posture regenerate faster, so it's invaluable. Once you have defeated him, you will obtain 1x Pellet and can continue forward.

The gate ahead cannot be opened from this side, so go right from the gate, and there will be an item on the ground. This is a Fistful of Ash and is used to temporarily blind enemies. You will see a branch ahead, you need to jump and grab to hold onto the ledge and then pull yourself up to continue. You could alternatively hug the wall on the left side and shimmy across slowly.

Ahead you will receive a tutorial for "Wall Jump Ledge Hang" which is just informing you that you can press Square to hold onto a ledge after executing a wall jump. Much like the other mechanics, a scratched surface is indicative of something ahead. Go up the wall and you'll have an opportunity to eavesdrop on some guards who are on the bridge. They will talk about the passage at the bottom of the moat, and how security has been sent there as well.

From here, continue along the ledge and climb up, then you can approach the enemy nearby. This is your first Straw-Hat enemy, be mindful that they have a powerful grab attack. After defeating him, walk toward the ledge, hang, shimmy and drop down toward an item. Pick up 1x Pellet and continue onward and down. This door is the point for your "Reed Whistle" to Kuro. Pick "Yes" to trigger a cutscene, where Kuro will approach and thank you for finding the gate, and say that it is a shame that all he can do is run from the Fated Bloodline. You can talk to Kuro, who ponders what to do once you escape.

The Escape Path & First Boss

Go forward the passage and up the stairs and a cutscene will trigger. You will meet Lord Genichiro Ashina, who is an unavoidable fight. He will attack with powerful "Perilous Attacks" that you are not equipped to handle, so you'll be defeated. He cuts off Sekiro's Arm and takes Kuro with him.

The Sculptor & Prosthetic

A cutscene plays that shows the Sculptor carving Buddha statues, and the Wolf awakening from rest, only to find his lost arm replaced with a strange prosthetic. This is the Shinobi Prosthetic, which triggers the trophy of the same name. You are now in the Dilapidated Temple

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Map

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