How do I deal with some headless bosses?

[Bullett00th]

Reached the endgame fight with Genichiro but want to clear out the remaining optional bosses - namely the headless ones.

I've only defeated the ones necessary to progress as I generally find them to a pain in the rear and only beatable with Divine Confetti and some sugar. Or there's some method I don't know about.

However I have no idea how to even approach the ones underwater and the ones that slow down time. Any advice?

[Almaz]

neither of them is necessary to progress.
slow down time? what? I guess you mean mist that slows you down? they all can do that, except the underwater ones.
there is no other method than confetti + some sugar.
tactic against underwater dudes is the same as for others, but i can give you a tip - you can use gachiin's sugar and attack one with "boss" hp, so the other one won't get aggro

[Bullett00th]

Originally posted by Adam Jensen:

neither of them is necessary to progress.
slow down time? what? I guess you mean mist that slows you down? they all can do that, except the underwater ones.
there is no other method than confetti + some sugar.
tactic against underwater dudes is the same as for others, but i can give you a tip - you can use gachiin's sugar and attack one with "boss" hp, so the other one won't get aggro

I've fought a few who didn't slow me down, but those that do are giving me a hell of a hard time.

As for the underwater ones - feels like I never have enough time to get to them and effectively fight them as the effects of confetti and sugar wear out since I have to take them before jumping in the water

[nakedsunoo7]

if they turn invisble make 180 degree turn so he cant rip your spine out. u can easily escape the mist, which slows your movement down, by using Nightjar Slash Reversal then refil your health or buff with confetti or sugar.

Nightjar Slash Reversal makes headless plebs too trivial

[Almaz]

Originally posted by Bullett00th:

Originally posted by Adam Jensen:

neither of them is necessary to progress.
slow down time? what? I guess you mean mist that slows you down? they all can do that, except the underwater ones.
there is no other method than confetti + some sugar.
tactic against underwater dudes is the same as for others, but i can give you a tip - you can use gachiin's sugar and attack one with "boss" hp, so the other one won't get aggro

I've fought a few who didn't slow me down, but those that do are giving me a hell of a hard time.

As for the underwater ones - feels like I never have enough time to get to them and effectively fight them as the effects of confetti and sugar wear out since I have to take them before jumping in the water

actually, you don't need confetti for underwater ones, for them it just buffs damage

[Jimwtfh]

You can use Phoenix's Lilac umbrella (purple) to have an easier time parrying their attacks or completely blocking them.
Malcontent makes Headless suffer allowing you to land several free hits on them. Be careful, though, as it is effective only for the first two (or so) times in the battle, then they become immune to the effect.
The mist that slows you down is actually not that much of a burden - you can run in it, albeit slowly, but that is more than enough to keep some distance between you and the Headless when needed.
When they become invisible - run to the place they were standing, wait for their perilous grab attack to end, then hit them 3-4 times, as they will not attack for some time after their grab.
As for underwater, I usually circle them by dashing around, waiting for one of their "vortex" attacks to start, circle them and land a dashing hit and then quickly swim away. Rinse and repeat.

[Bigwopo]

use the purple shield noob

[Kabirbd]

The underwater ones are actually easier as they can't slow you down. Try them without confetti.
Just do the dash towards them & stab.
Remember you can buy a gourd in mibu village to reduce terror & you can use it underwater.

For the normal headless ones I recommend watching Ongbal's video of fighting headless.
Headless aren't that strong to survive late game attack power sekiro. It's just that many players are more used to using sword only rather than managing terror & health at the same time.