True Monk

Corrupted Monk	•	True Monk

The Corrupted Monk (破戒僧, Depraved Monk) is a mandatory Boss with three Vitality bars.

She's the naginata wielding guardian of the Vermillion Bridge, while her illusion was protecting the entrance to the Wedding Cave Door.

Her real name is Priestess Yao (八百比丘尼).

She still wears her old nun attire with a Hannya (般若) mask covering her face and grasps a Buddhist prayer necklace in her left hand.

As the fight drags on, a Centipede will erupt from her neck, revealing that she too was an infested.

Behaviour and tactics[]

Phase 1

Three-Hit Combo: cleaves two times and ends with a Perilous Sweep.
Perilous Sweep Combo: a Perilous Sweep followed by an upward hook.
Perilous Sweep Follow-up: a quick cleave, then followed by a slow started Perilous Sweep.
Perilous Sweep Retreat: a quick hook followed by two Perilous Sweeps backwards.
Perilous Thrust: thrusts with her naginata.
Six-Hit Combo: cleaves for a maximum of five times and may ends early at any given time with a Perilous Thrust.
Chase: readies her blade and put her left hand forward, strutting towards Wolf then does a quick upward hook. She may follow up with Helm Splitter.
Helm Splitter: leaps into the air with her body spinning means an overhead smash, while sitting up straight means a cleave is imminent.
Overpowering Shove: during a combo, she may shove with both hand then ends with a powerful guard-breaking cleave.
Retreat: cleaves in front while jumping back for a long distance.
Tenacious Pursuit: if Wolf is staying up on a nearby tree branch for too long, she leaps high up and cleaves downward.

Phase 2

Illusory Forms: chants for a brief moment then disappears, enshrouding the area in thick mist. There will be two dark mirror images of her which will constantly appear immediately behind Wolf, executing quick upward hooks. They can be dispelled with a Snap Seed.

Phase 3

After the second Deathblow, a Centipede bursts out off her neck, granting a new set of feral behaviors.

Cleaving Hell: cleaves once, connecting with a Perilous Sweep and ends with either Dreadful Pile or smoothly transitioned into Wild Smash.
Perilous Sweep Chase: runs forwards and sweeps at the same time. She anticipates Wolf with this move whenever he is healing nearby.
Dreadful Pile: steps forth and throws out a pile of slime with nigh instant Terror build-up. She is very likely to use this move after cleaving twice.
Air Blade: leaps up and spins her body wildly forwards, cleaving at the fourth cycle. She anticipates Wolf with this move whenever he is healing nearby.
Raging Swing: after one of her combo being deflected, she may wildly swing the blade for three times in her right hand.
Whirlwind: enacts a stance then spins her blade four times and one last quick spin with extended range.
Wild Smash: an overhead smash at breakneck speed.

Just like against the Long-arm Centipedes, the stagger caused by Firecrackers and Fistfuls of Ash has no cooldown on her. Since she'll block most of the attacks thrown at her, both the Divine Abduction and the Mist Raven can employed to expose her back.

Snap Seeds can come in handy for phase two and Pacifying Agent or Mottled Purple Gourd for phase 3.

Since her Posture doesn't regenerate as fast as in Mibu Village, depleting her Vitality isn't a priority.

After she lands, there's enough time to land four charged attacks, before she'll start fighting back.

It's vital not to get greedy and always wait for a combo to end to counter-attack and only with no more than a couple of hits. Performing a Mikiri Counter on her Perilous Thrust attacks creates the safest opening for any offensive.

Since she doesn't launch her Perilous Attack at the end of her combos if the preceding attacks aren't deflected, it's easy to use hit-and-ran tactics on this Boss. The Helm Splitter move in particular can be abused, as it's her only mean to close any distance, and can be completely avoided by simply running behind her coming from the left.

It's recommended to only land one hit after jump-kicking one of her Perilous Sweeps, as she's often counter it with her Retreat move, which can't be interrupted.

Using a regular deflection instead of a Mikiri Counter can prove useful as it'll push the Monk to follow its combo with another immediately, preventing her from regenerating her Posture while also exposing her to more Posture damage.

It's best not to attempt to jump-kick her Perilous Sweep Retreat, unless she has her back to a wall, as Wolf will be vulnerable to the second sweep while landing.

Phase two starts off with the Monk teleporting to the centre of the bridge, chanting briefly before disappearing: two illusions will now hunt Sekiro in the fog shrouded arena for a while. When the mist vanishes, the Boss will be found once again at the centre of the bridge.

This new illusion-summoning move that she'll occasionaly use is the only difference with the previous phase.

Snap Seeds can be used to dispell these illusions.

It's possible to skip this phase all together by jumping on the last branch to the left from the entrance and performing a plunge deathblow on the Monk, when she moves to the centre of the bridge.

At the beginning of the third phase, she'll always use her Whirlwind move.

Since she now re-acquires the quick Posture recovery of her illusion counterpart, reducing her Vitality should be the focus.

If Dreadful Pile connects the Terror bar will fill up almost entirely, so it's vital to run away immediately to use a Pacifying Agent or the Mottled Purple Gourd.

With her new moveset, there's very little time to recognize which Perilous attack she'll use at the end of a combo, so it's best to ignore jump-kicking (that she can also counter with Dreadful Pile while Wolf's in mid-air) and to instead jump to the left, which is enough to dodge both the Perilous Sweep and Dreadful Pile safely.

The Wild Smash, Dreadful Pile and Air Blade offer enough time to land a couple of hits during their recovery.

It's possible to stunlock any phase of this Boss to death: after using the Ceremonial Tanto for more Spirit Emblems, consume a Yashariku's Sugar and buff the katana with Divine Confetti and, as soon as the boss appears, throw Firecrackers at her, land two hits, then throw Firecrackers again. Rinse and repeat. Fistfuls of Ash can be employed as a substitute or an addition to Firecrackers.