I'm sorry. I just can't beat Isshin the Sword Saint

[PossessingSpirit09]

I've gone through the game beating every mini boss and boss just fine.

But Isshin was too much. I can get past the Genichiro, Way of Tomoe first phase easy and with no damage suffered, but the second Isshin comes in its like all my braincells jump ship cuz I just can't deal with him

I can't do any health damage to him to impede his posture recovery. His posture recovery is too fast to get a deathblow.

I'm feel so done. But so unfulfilled. I want to beat him, but he's the literal hardest boss I've encountered thus far, a close second possibly being Great Shinobi Owl

I'm probably gonna quit this game, but any general tips I can apply to beating Isshin?

Edit: By some miracle, I turned off my brain and went into a trance and got to the second phase (still dunno how I did it). But then I died halfway through that. The close victory just tilted me even further

[Terry]

If you keep deflecting and then counter-attack, you should be able to slow down his posture recovery. Familiarize with his perilous attacks, if you successfully deflect them, especially the thrust attacks, that'll deal some posture damage and follow up with ichimonji double. If you damage him enough, he'll recover his posture slowly but you need to that carefully because isshin doesn't give you enough window to do that.


Take a break in between fights. That's what I did if I get stuck too long with a boss. Took me a week to beat Genichiro tho heh

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by ThePacifist09:

I've gone through the game beating every mini boss and boss just fine.

But Isshin was too much. I can get past the Genichiro, Way of Tomoe first phase easy and with no damage suffered, but the second Isshin comes in its like all my braincells jump ship cuz I just can't deal with him

I can't do any health damage to him to impede his posture recovery. His posture recovery is too fast to get a deathblow.

I'm feel so done. But so unfulfilled. I want to beat him, but he's the literal hardest boss I've encountered thus far, a close second possibly being Great Shinobi Owl

I'm probably gonna quit this game, but any general tips I can apply to beating Isshin?

TL:DR
Try different things and try to just cut his HP but, before everything, you seem to have tilted there at Isshin, give it a break before the game breaks you.

Longer version:
Like Terry said, take a break, dont just go expecting a victory or getting mad at it, take it with time and will to learn omre if needed.

About what you described (that you already tried)...
Well, you can try to use prostetics and skills ... you can also try to deal damage to him to help with his posture recovery (or just try to defeat Isshin just with attacks) but you need to dodge through his attacks or at least around his attacks to be able to land hits while Isshin miss his attacks.
In that case, there are some attacks that are harder to dodge to the side and behind while there are attacks you dont even need to dodge, you can run around him while Isshin is performing his attack.
You may not even need to dodge at all and just position yourself better and land attacks when Isshin miss you.

Tbh, the posture recovery of Isshin is huge because he loves to run away to recover his posture, so dealling damage to at least near 50% of his HP (to make sure it will recover slowly so you have time to get back at Isshin before he fully recover or recover much posture) is what I would do if I was going to try to beat Isshin by deflect/jump/mikiri.

Still, if you are not good at dodge through attacks to land attacks at him (to reduce posture recovery) and you tried prostetics and skills (and did not work) that is not much you can do but "try to learn now" or "just keep running or dodging into isshin to stay near and react with deflect/jump/mikiri.

In case you dont mind spoilers about the Isshin next stages:

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

#1 - Dodge and attack only:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FoUPIgrVEc

#2 - Monk skills only:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x063uHA83VI

#3 - Deflect only:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj9sA_b9rBM

#4 - Using everything:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWAoQIgdWxg

Isshin is just the sum of all enemy attacks (enemies that use weapons) so he is basically the sum of everything you can do at the game. I am also sure other people may find even more different ways of beating the game.

Some videos showing different ways of defeating Isshin, where and how each move work.

Basically, how you play the game will dictate how you can beat Isshin, my way (dodge and attack with deflect to keep up the pressure while I stick to the target and build up more posture along the way . . . even considering I end up killing by HP anyway) or someone else way may not work for you.
My way I just go into the target, try to lure enemy attack to dodge the first set of attacks (or I just go into dodging the first set of attacks), start dealling damage and, if I dont stagger the target for a bit more extra hits, I will clash swords, what mean it is time for deflecting, and I will deflect untill the enemy decide to perform another skill move that I can dodge through again or untill the enemy try to get away from me.
When the enemy try to get away from me, a quick dodge into (fast step) forward into the enemy may even grant me some free hits without the enemy even starting any attack, so by the time I stop to check boss health, boss HP is already down to some 60% or 50% after I made a couple of engages at him and his posture is already filled by about 40%, 50% too (so, yeah, the boss can chose whatever he want, to die by posture or HP, what comes first).

I am not perfect either, that is no need to be perfect, all you need to do is take care with your HP and heal in case of need (and the only reason to dodge away is to heal).
Using sugar help with damage (or for you to stand with your posture or HP) but no item/prostetic/skill is really "mandatory" to beat the boss, just make it safer, faster or with more options.

[Varit Rockatansky]

Don't give up! It took me literally 1 week last year.

[Hiphoptimus Rhyme]

It took me 4 or 5 days (I think, maybe a little more) to crack that nut my first time. I've fought him twice since then, getting him down within two hours and then an hour. It's very doable once you know what you're working with.

There are tons of guides on YouTube but you'll have to use a strategy (or combination of strategies) that work with your play style.

Don't go into it prepared to tilt and expect it to take a very long time. You got this.

[ice]

stop hesitating

[Julymorning]

youve come this far, you cant give it up now buddy

[Sokurah]

You will get him eventually

[William Shakesman]

Isshin Sword Saint is some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Incredibly tedious BS. Some of his stuff is almost completely unreadable because the fight takes place in waist high flowers because From fell for the difficulty meme and has stopped making good games, just hard ones.

I actually secured my win by ignoring the parry stuff almost entirely. There's not a lot he can do if you can read his longer range attacks and just keep running circles around him. It's been a while, but I secured by win by running away a lot and stealing stabs at his back to knock his health down to win by chip damage, but you need to identify the moves where you can get in and get out safely to steal those hits. It's not easy but it reduces the risk considerably despite making the fight last a lot longer. If you can read him right, there are plenty of openings to hit him with that slow LB+RB heavy strike.

[Sokurah]

Originally posted by William Shakesman:

Isshin Sword Saint is some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Incredibly tedious BS. Some of his stuff is almost completely unreadable ...

completely unreadable
????

you gotta be kidding pal. Everything in the Isshin fight is 100 % predictable and you can always react propperly. Its a hard boss you need to learn, thats what the game is about. if you dont like that fine, but you can master Isshin 100 % and there is nor luck or RNG in it.

[William Shakesman]

Post a video of you running the fight three times consecutively having taken no damage or please stop with the dickwaving and leave the discussion of the game to people who understand it.

This sort of fake machismo gets really tiresome. I've seen quite enough of "Souls has never had bad hitboxes you just suck at the game"

[Sokurah]

Originally posted by William Shakesman:

Post a video of you running the fight three times consecutively having taken no damage or please stop with the dickwaving and leave the discussion of the game to people who understand it.

This sort of fake machismo gets really tiresome. I've seen quite enough of "Souls has never had bad hitboxes you just suck at the game"

lol "to ppl who understand it" ^^ that from a person who say that something in the isshin fight is "unreadable"

i dont need to record a vid. There are tons of vids with no damage on NG7, some even with AP1 which is nuts imo. Nobody eben watch these anymore. There are ppl defeating him an any least fitting device possible.

I made it to NG4 with bell and no charm and killed Isshin like 50 times in the boss mod so dont tell me i dont know how the game works.

Also i wasnt talking about no damage. And OP ist just in his frist run so we talk about the default Isshin.

[William Shakesman]

If you don't need to record a video, then I don't need to listen to you. From threads are always filled with people who don't understand the game at all opining about it. Sad, but not much you can do.

Because I mean, if you're going to assume I don't understand the game, then I'm going to do the same to you. It all could have been avoided but what can you do now?

[Sokurah]

Originally posted by William Shakesman:

If you don't need to record a video, then I don't need to listen to you. From threads are always filled with people who don't understand the game at all opining about it. Sad, but not much you can do.

Because I mean, if you're going to assume I don't understand the game, then I'm going to do the same to you. It all could have been avoided but what can you do now?

What is unreliable in the Isshin fight then? Please elaborate?

In fact i tired to record an interesting no damage fight vs Isshin. Pretty much all no damage vids avoid Genichiros floating passage and Isshins 4 shot gun move. If any moves these are unreliable or at least hard to get IF you try to parry them. They can be avoided easily tho.

Feel free to check my YT channel. There are some hitless vids also a vid where i fight 7 Spears with his odachi friend at the same time. I have no Isshin vid because i cant be bothered because no one would watch it anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FreyofKtau/videos?view_as=subscriber

btw the fact if i am able to do it does not even effect my argument. Many ppl. can do it as you can see on YT.

But as is said. Pls tell us the parts of the Isshin fight which contain RNG or really are unreliable. Enlight us.

[William Shakesman]

It's not unreliable. it's unreadable. If you fight him in the grass, when he goes low for the red warning attack, the grass can very easily obscure if he's going for the sweep or the lunge because he goes low for both of those but his hands are beneath the height of the grass. Only about a fraction of the arena is freshly mowed though.

That's really it. You just had to ask.

[FlyingTorcensoredWhale]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYzMYcUty6s