Sekiro Divine Dragon fight - how to beat and kill the Divine Dragon
How to beat the Divine Dragon in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Divine Dragon is the next boss in Sekiro, found at the end of the game's Fountainhead Palace area, following on from True Corrupted Monk in our walkthrough of the game's bosses and mini-bosses.
You'll find the Divine Dragon just up the steps from the Sanctuary Idol in the Fountainhead Palace area. Approach the coffin with the woman next to it and pray, and be prepared for your final battle of the area - note that this is a point of no return for several endings in this game, so check our Sekiro ending steps guide for the details on that.
Below, we'll cover how to beat Sekiro's Divine Dragon, including any particularly strong methods or weaknesses they might have and any handy things to bear in mind.
For more guides and pages like this, meanwhile, cycle back to our main Sekiro walkthrough and boss guide hub.
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Sekiro Divine Dragon fight - how to beat and kill the Old Dragons of the Tree
The first phase of the Divine Dragon boss fight is actually a strange battle with a cluster of mini dragons, called Old Dragons of the Tree.
It might seem a little intimidating at first but they're surprisngly easy to take down - most of them take far too long to attack, if they attack at all - and can be cleared out en masse with either area-of-effect attacks like the Whirlwind or Mortal Blade combat arts.
There are two main threats: the trees which burst out of the ground (just keep moving to avoid them) and the clours of poison that they'll cough up (again, just keep moving when you see them coughing).
Grapple up to the trees for some free Deathblows from above - you'll also be able to follow that up with a huge area of effect attack by mashing R1/RB too - and they'll go down soon enough. Avoid hitting the dark coloured dragons towards the end, as they'll cause you some trouble.
Looking for more Sekiro pages like this? First up, the first main Sekiro patch notes for update 1.03 are live. Otherwise, our Sekiro boss guide, boss list and walkthrough hub has everything in one place, including pages on Lady Butterfly, Genichiro Ashina Way of Tomoe, Folding Screen Monkeys, Corrupted Monk, Guardian Ape, Great Shinobi Owl, Emma and Isshin Ashina, True Corrupted Monk, and Divine Dragon. We also have in-depth pages like Sekiro tips and tricks to get you started, Sekiro Skills, skill tree and Esoteric Text locations explained, our deep dive on the Sekiro combat system, Posture, and Perilous Attacks, or details on all Sekiro Prosthetic Tool locations, how to cure Dragonrot and Rot Essence in Sekiro, Gourd Seed locations, a Divine Confetti farm route method, all Treasure Carp Scale locations, all, Prayer Beads locations and all Snap Seed locations, too. And when you're ready - the how to beat Isshin Sword Saint and an Isshin Sword Saint cheese, plus the many Sekiro endings.
How to beat the Divine Dragon in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Once that first stage is down, it's time for the real deal - the big Divine Dragon fight, which looks hugely intimidating but is actually one of the easiest boss fights of the game. Here's how to take it down.
How to beat the Divine Dragon in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
1. The Divine Dragon will start by pushing you back with a gust of wind, before a cluster of trees sprout up in front of it and lightning threatens to strike on of them - those trees are the key, so first off just work your way forwards a bit and then be prepared for some evasive action.
2. Divine Dragon sends out two swipe-type Perilous Attacks that shoot gusts of horizontal wind at you. Jump them both - the timing's pretty easy, jump when it's mid-way through the sword wing.
3. Wait for a beat, then start sprinting sideways in one direction, keeping the trees a medium distance in front of you. The Divine Dragon will start slamming its sword down for thrust-style Perilous Attacks that send vertical gusts at you, but sprinting in one direction will mean it misses you with every one. It'll do three of these - try to stay near-ish to the tree that's about to be struck with lightning.
4. After the vertical attacks stop, grapple to the tree that's lit up yellow and lightning will strik while you're in mid air. Mash R1/RB while locked-on to the Divine Dragon and you'll throw the lightning at it, for a good chunk of damage.
5. Rinse and repeat! The Dragon will go back to doing three vertical Perilous thrust attacks or two horizontal swipe ones, or both. Keep going until it stops each time, grapple to the glowing tree, catch the lightning, and throw it.
6. When it's one throw away from death - after about four or five rounds of doing the above - the Divine Dragon's attack cycle will change slightly and the trees will disappear for a bit. Dodge everything, first off:
- Two diagonal attacks - dodge by running sideways like before.
- Two sweep Perilous attacks - dodge by jumping as before, note they're dealt out slightly faster one after the other this time.
- Four verticle thrust Perilous Attacks - dodge by running sideways as before, again note they're faster this time.
- A flurry of attacks - One diagonal, one thrust followed quickly by two sweeps, and some more verticals. Dodge as above, but don't worry if you get hit once or twice.
7. Time for the kill. The trees will reappear, so grapple to the glowing one and you'll catch the lightning again - but this time wait before throwing. You'll get thrust up into the air (once by a gust of wind on the tree, and once by the Divine Dragon itself).
While you're up high, the Dragon will come up to bite you - wait until its head gets close and it opens its mouth, then slap it with the lightning by pressing R1/RB.
The Divine Dragon will go down. Run up its sword, which is placed like a ramp to its head, and finish it with a Deathblow to the eye to collect your reward, and finish the fight.
That's all you'll hopefully need for tackling this encounter. Next up in our guide is the final Sekiro fight Isshin the Sword Saint, or you can cycle back to our main Sekiro walkthrough and boss guide hub for much more explainers and advice.