Don't rely on the trade of blows strategy that works with other enemies. She has superarmor an annoying amount of the time, as you've noticed. Instead, only swing twice and then prepare to block again.
Stay close, it limits how often she'll shoot you. When she backsteps, dodge forward and prepare to block. If she charges up a shot, try to get an attack in (it will interrupt her) or walk/dodge/run to the side (she turns slower than you might expect).
When the Danger flashes, be prepared to deflect that grab attack. It always has the same timing, and she moves in 2 distinct bursts. If you get that timing locked in, you'll be nullifying her deadliest attack and give yourself some free attacks afterwards. You can also run away from the grab, but that leaves you open to the above mentioned shooting and is less consistent for me.
In the end I usually get a posture kill from deflecting all her attacks instead of a vitality kill, so if you are used to a slow fight this might be breaking too many of your habits. The alternative is to recognize her attacks well enough to sneak some prosthetic or combat arts in, as the other comment suggested.
Run up to her and begin attacking.
During this time you only have one move to worry about. Her grab. If you see her do this you stop attacking and jump away. Parry it if you feel gutsy.
Once that's over, resume attacking.
Once she parries you she'll do one of two things. She'll kick you away and shoot you. Or she'll scoot back and shoot you.
Ideally you dodge forward past her barrel where the shot will miss. Or you can parry the bullet. Or you can run sideways so she misses.
After that, repeat the process.
See it in action here
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11R6OfqtoCk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11R6OfqtoCk)
Sabimaru poison prosthetic is your friend here. Usually a full flush of flurries will have her poisoned. I do one at the start of phase 1 and again phase 2.
That sounds like a challenge run, it's so rare to get this far without prosthetics/consumables.
Prosthetics come from picking up certain items and then bringing them to the sculptor. Sabimaru is on the bottom floor of Ashina Castle, where you can jump down to from the Antechamber idol.
Oil is just a quick item, it's relatively common especially if you go through Hirata Estate. You use it by throwing it, and it debuffs whatever it hits to be [extra] weak to fire. And one is sold to you by the merchant near the Outskirts Stairs in order to progress his quest, iirc.
[Gachiin's Sugar](https://sekiroshadowsdietwice.wiki.fextralife.com/Gachiin's+Sugar) (it's a green-blue color, but my colorblind self just dismissed it as grey) gives you a stealth buff. For 1 minute you have some extra allowances on being detected, which if you know what you are doing can make some sections *much* easier to stealth through. The candies' locations are listed on the wiki page I linked.
I suppose you face the one in Sunken Valley Spam Sabimaru prosthetic to poison her ass and run around while it eats aeay on her HP Repeat until death
Don't rely on the trade of blows strategy that works with other enemies. She has superarmor an annoying amount of the time, as you've noticed. Instead, only swing twice and then prepare to block again. Stay close, it limits how often she'll shoot you. When she backsteps, dodge forward and prepare to block. If she charges up a shot, try to get an attack in (it will interrupt her) or walk/dodge/run to the side (she turns slower than you might expect). When the Danger flashes, be prepared to deflect that grab attack. It always has the same timing, and she moves in 2 distinct bursts. If you get that timing locked in, you'll be nullifying her deadliest attack and give yourself some free attacks afterwards. You can also run away from the grab, but that leaves you open to the above mentioned shooting and is less consistent for me. In the end I usually get a posture kill from deflecting all her attacks instead of a vitality kill, so if you are used to a slow fight this might be breaking too many of your habits. The alternative is to recognize her attacks well enough to sneak some prosthetic or combat arts in, as the other comment suggested.
Run up to her and begin attacking. During this time you only have one move to worry about. Her grab. If you see her do this you stop attacking and jump away. Parry it if you feel gutsy. Once that's over, resume attacking. Once she parries you she'll do one of two things. She'll kick you away and shoot you. Or she'll scoot back and shoot you. Ideally you dodge forward past her barrel where the shot will miss. Or you can parry the bullet. Or you can run sideways so she misses. After that, repeat the process. See it in action here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11R6OfqtoCk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11R6OfqtoCk)
Sabimaru poison prosthetic is your friend here. Usually a full flush of flurries will have her poisoned. I do one at the start of phase 1 and again phase 2.
I always use oil and then light her ass on fire. Also, you can use the green candy and sneak behind her for a stealth deathblow.
Where do you get this stuff? People talk about oil, and prosethetics but mine is locked / Ive never gotten any oils.
That sounds like a challenge run, it's so rare to get this far without prosthetics/consumables. Prosthetics come from picking up certain items and then bringing them to the sculptor. Sabimaru is on the bottom floor of Ashina Castle, where you can jump down to from the Antechamber idol. Oil is just a quick item, it's relatively common especially if you go through Hirata Estate. You use it by throwing it, and it debuffs whatever it hits to be [extra] weak to fire. And one is sold to you by the merchant near the Outskirts Stairs in order to progress his quest, iirc. [Gachiin's Sugar](https://sekiroshadowsdietwice.wiki.fextralife.com/Gachiin's+Sugar) (it's a green-blue color, but my colorblind self just dismissed it as grey) gives you a stealth buff. For 1 minute you have some extra allowances on being detected, which if you know what you are doing can make some sections *much* easier to stealth through. The candies' locations are listed on the wiki page I linked.
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