I have no idea what possessed me to even attempt this to begin with, but I have somehow managed to beat all 18 bosses on Carnage Difficulty using only Issens without using any Charms or the Bishamon Sword. I did have to make exceptions for Dokyo due to a lot of her attacks being outright impossible to Issen, but the rules were otherwise as follows:

- Issens as the only form of damage (except Grab Counters since grabs can't be Issened)

- No parrying/deflecting (except Unavoidable and Unarmed attacks. Unavoidables can't be Issened and parrying/deflecting Unarmed does no health/stamina damage)

- No Blazing State, Reflex Combos, Oni Armaments, or Oni Awakening

As for Dokyo, since many of her attacks can't be Issened, I allowed myself to interrupt her attacks so long as my attacks do not make direct contact with her, and I can perform a Grab Counter on the Phase 2 variant of the Kubi Akari swarm.

Finally, since Phase 3 of Yoshitsune's fight outright requires Oni Awakening to deal damage, Oni Awakening is permitted for that phase only. Also, since Issens don't guarantee Purple Souls, Still Water is permitted in Phase 3 as long as I still stick to Issens.

https://youtu.be/rjiAhCR6Bfs?is=ifGh3isvMflazKBn

Finally beat Altered Ganryu, took about a dozen attempts but I had second life / extra health etc so without them it’s very diffucult to beat him if I go back and do a replay. Do we get the new sword in the replay boss fight???

Carnage bosses feel spongy to a lot of people, so I put together an Awakening-focused build and wanted to share how it works. The idea is to get into Awakening form (with the help of Still Water) as often as possible and land a lot of issens while it’s active. I beat the game with all my gear at proficiency 3, so you don’t need to max everything out.

Quick breakdown:

• Charms: Inner Strength (issen and break issen damage), Fencer’s Strength (+15% to regular attacks) and the Charm of Awakening (faster gauge fill)
• Playstyle: parry to get blazing state, deflect until the blue gauge fills, activate Still Water, keep deflecting (and charging the golden wave) until the purple gauge fills, then awaken
• Soul absorption: let the souls hang in the air and absorb a bunch at once instead of absorbing after every hit, this helps with filling up the blue/purple gauges faster
• Hozuki pouch: the awakening pouch obviously, but can use the healing one too

I made a video covering the full setup plus some combat showcase, including the Ganryu fight: [link]

What other Carnage builds are you guys running?

9 straight minutes of just wailing on this guy.

I understand this has been posted to death but curious if there is a definitive youtube or something on the right way to do it.

Thus far I have only mastered Issen for the long, slow overhead strike the Hitotsume Gasa do. Largely using the "press button after weapon is no longer white" technique. But I can't seem to issen any other sword slash from these trash mobs.

For the Hitotsume Sho, I can't even issen the big jumping attack. Which seems the obvious thing to issen.

I occasionally get the arrow issen. And weirdly I was an issen master for Benkei... unsure if he just has way bigger windows.

I am replaying Onimusha in carnage mode.

Since I’m up to speed with the story, I spend more time practicing combos on the bosses this round.

I’m psyched finding out new ways to combine charms for max damage.

Also, knowing which attack to block or dodge makes it more fun.

…And the feeling is bittersweet…Time to leave the Byakue and Dohatsu for a while. Thanks for the support fellow Onimushas. See you on the DLC(s?)

I hate grab attacks man, 7 out 10 times I get hit with those when it comes to bosses

So I'm working on finishing Yoshitsune (getting very close, got well into third phase, just a few little mistakes I need to tighten up). When you're working on a boss and you die, it kicks you back to the retry screen. What I didn't notice til tonight is if you want a different combo of charms than what your original save was for and you play with those and you die, it'll reset me to the default charms.

So right as you hit retry and it loads into the game, immediately hit the touchpad button before the fight starts and scroll over to equipment to make sure the charms are how you want. Cause I have to switch them to my now preferred charms every time I die and retry. Mildly annoying but at least now I am getting better results. Good luck!

Based on the in-game information, it doesn't seem like it's possible.

The reason is I was thinking of a carnage playthrough but using the Bishamon Sword, without any other unlocks carrying over.

I'm playing on PS, so I can't use mods.

EDIT: I've confirmed the suggestion in one of the comments. I selected "No" when asked if I want to start based on a completed save.

Everything is reset except for obtained outfits.

Thanks everyone.

The boss rematches were a bit brutal - you get no items! Just pouches. But bushido blade makes up for it kinda. This required knowing boss moves - deflecting - parrying - issen. Everything. True strength of skill and resolve.

Doable. But was tough. Probably 7/10 hard wise in plat.

It was a good run, 2 playthroughs... but action was harder !! Only tough part on Carnage was Ganryu 3 and yoshitsune, but Ganryu was harder !! Most other bosses on carnage I beat in under 10 tries, typically 5 or 5 attempts. Some of the earlier bosses, like the 2 brothers individually each, i beat on the 1st try....

Finished with my sword being 1 upgrade away from fully maxed, and my gauntlet and clothes being level 4. This bishamon sword was worth it. Rematch Ganryu on Carnage in the boss Rematch challenges and cooked him with unlimited issen teleports.. very satisfying.

I’m bout to break my PS5 controller I know it’s a skill issue but it feels like I’m fighting two different bosses. I can deflect and part everything then all of a sudden I can’t deflect shit. I can isshen his jump attack every single time. I can counter his grab now consistently but his damn combo attack and his piercing attacks kill me. In second phase when he enhances his sword I can deflect the one that pierces through. Then magically I can’t. It’s like as soon as I get him to 50-30% in third phase everything goes to shit.

I had this same issue with the wind and lightning brothers. I was consistently deflecting/parrying their ultimate attack. Then magically? I lost the ability to deflect it so every single time they used it? I died. Only beat them due to a mirror and oni awakening tanking one and the said part is?

I almost beat them on my first try but I sold against the lightning brother. Then I spent the next hour beating my head in the wall.

Now Ganryu has taken me over 2 hours. Started at 9 PM central and it’s past 11 PM and it’s no consistency to then fight. It’s literally two things killing me.

The combo attack and the pink spear attack. Literally in action the combo attack wasn’t relevant at all and the spear attack? It never even hit me. I didn’t even know what the attack looked like.

It just don’t make sense and then when I’m in Oni awakening I can Issen every single basic attack with ease. I can’t deflect any of the thrust attacks in base but when he amps his sword I magically can and then I do good until the end and then I just get hit by either the combo or the pink piercing attack and both of them instant kill me( well pink piercing kills me if I’m not at full)

This shit irritating and it’s making me not even want to buy Phantom Blade Zero. I genuinely feel like I’m being cheated cuz one second I can deflect everything and the next second I can’t deflect shit. So I can’t tell if I’m getting better or not cuz the last 50% of his hp is literally RNG of will I deflect his attacks consistently or not?

At least with Consort Radahn I had options to beat him. I don’t have options. It’s deflect or die.

Thanks for everyone's tips and the insults. Really helped correct myself. Honestly didn't know the window for issen increases in Oni mode, so corrected myself as much as I could in the next fight with benkei. Lost my rhythm a bit towards the end. Please do comment regardless of good or bad.

Stylish finish or nah… what yall think? 😁

The one boss Musashi technically didn’t kill didn’t get a rematch

I'm curious whether anyone else had a similar experience with Greater Nue in the rematch challenges.

I beat him during the main story on Action difficulty in about seven attempts. However, the rematch was a completely different experience for me. It took roughly an hour, and for much of that time I struggled even to reach the second phase.

He seemed considerably more aggressive, chaining attacks together more frequently and giving me fewer opportunities to counterattack or heal. It also seemed like he was draining my souls more aggressively.

I've seen comments suggesting the rematch is essentially identical to the original encounter, which is why I'm puzzled by the difference in my experience.

For context, I played both encounters on Action difficulty and didn't rely on consumables in the original fight.

I did eventually beat the rematch, but I'm genuinely curious: Did anyone else notice a significant increase in difficulty, or was your experience pretty much the same as the original fight?

Took two days of playing to beat him in carnage mode and rematch.

Finally I've got a platinum trophy and i can surely admit, that it was harder than Sekiro platinum, either because i got older, or because it's really harder!