Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice PS4 PlayStation 4

How do you increase your health, attack power, and unlock skills in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice? The game ditches the RPG elements found in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to improve your character. In fact, there are loads of opportunities to upgrade certain aspects of the One-Armed Wolf and his equipment. In this guide, we'll tell you how you can increase health and posture, attack power, and more.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - How to upgrade your character and equipment

Here's how you can give Wolf a boost in various ways, from his vitality to his Shinobi Prosthetic.

Vitality (Health) and Posture

To upgrade your health and posture meters, you'll need to seek out Prayer Beads. These are rare items usually dropped by mini bosses throughout the game world. Once you have four Prayer Beads, go to your nearest Sculptor's Idol and press square to enter the menu. You should see an option to upgrade vitality and posture. Select it and use the four Prayer Beads to improve both meters, making your hero more resilient.

Attack power

You can also upgrade your attack power with Memories. You'll obtain a Memory each time you defeat a main boss, such as Lady Butterfly. Once you have a Memory from a boss, locate a Sculptor's Idol and find the option in the menu to upgrade attack. Use the Memory to provide Wolf with a boost to his strength. Now, his attacks will be more effective overall.

Skills

There are a large number of skills to unlock in Sekiro, and it's well worth filling out the skill trees. They provide you with some very useful moves, passive upgrades, and more. Skills are purchased with Skill Points, and you earn Skill Points by killing enemies and gaining XP. Each time you fill the XP bar, you get another Skill Point. Once again, you'll need to visit a Sculptor's Idol in order to view the skill trees and choose which skills to unlock.

Healing Gourd

How do you upgrade the Healing Gourd item? Simple -- you just need to find Gourd Seeds as you explore the world. These are sometimes dropped by mini bosses, but they crop up in other places too, such as merchants. These rare items should be taken to Emma in the Dilapidated Temple. Speak to her and give her any Gourd Seeds you've found, and she'll increase the number of times you can use the Healing Gourd. As your primary healing item, this is obviously an important key to survival.

Shinobi Prosthetic

After you defeat Gyoubu Oniwa, you'll obtain the Mechanical Barrel. This key item can be installed onto your Shinobi Prosthetic, and it unlocks a big upgrade tree for all your Prosthetic Tools. Once you have the Mechanical Barrel, return to the Dilapidated Temple and speak to the Sculptor. He'll fit it to your arm, unlocking an option to upgrade and craft Prosthetic Tool enhancements using all kinds of rare items you find throughout the game. You need to speak to the Sculptor each time you want to view this upgrade tree.