PixlBit

I have been playing through Sekiro since it launched back in March.  In a normal year, i probably would have finished it by now, but life keeps getting in the way.  Over the weekend things started to click and now all I want to do is play more Sekiro and talk about Sekiro ad naseum.

I will go over a couple basics for your edification.  Bosses and mini-bosses require deathblows, typically they require 2 deathblows compared to regular enemies 1.  You can typically trigger a deathblow one of two ways, either by depleting their vitality bar, or filling their posture damage bar.  Vitality damage is done by regular attacks, posture damage is incurred by attacks and deflecting the enemies attacks.
Still with me?  It is possible to defeat a boss without doing any vitality damage and just deflect until its posture meter is full and you are able to trigger a deathblow.

I was having some issues with a couple of the mini-bosses and have no shame, so i decided to look up some strategies online.  The basics from the videos I watched, attack attack, dodge dodge.  Seemed simple enough, right?  Well, that strategy worked nicely on a couple of the bosses.
Then I stumbled upon a boss with essentially no window for you to attack, you need to deflect until its posture meter is full.  With this in mind, I went back to a different mini-boss I was having difficulty with.  Rather than try to dodge his attacks and play offensively, I deflected his attack and it did a surprisingly large amount of posture damage.  I was able to defeat him in just a couple attempts this way, where I had tried a couple dozen times playing it strictly offensive.

It makes me so happy the game is beginning to click.  I had concerns about my ability to finish the game, but I am learning and it does not seem anywhere near as hard as the internet would make you think.