The bosses are undoubtedly the hardest part of Sifu. It's not that they are absolutely impossible to defeat – they just have unique moves and the game doesn't tell you how to avoid their attacks.
If you're at the beginning of the game and stumped at the first boss, Fajar the Botanist, read the guide below for the best strategies on defeating him. He is one of the easiest boss battles in Sifu, so it only gets harder from here. All the same, it just takes a little time and practice to beat all bosses with minimal deaths.
Before The Fight
The Squats, Sifu's first level, is the easiest of the five main levels. There are a few things you should do here to make sure the fight is as easy as possible. First and foremost, you'll want to go through the level at least twice to take advantage of the shortcut and die fewer times.
Secondly, you should pay close attention to the upgrades you choose at the Shrines you find throughout the level. We recommend focusing on building up Structure. This will let you parry more moves from the boss, thus building up his Structure faster. In terms of abilities, permanently learn the Strong Sweep Focus. It helps on Fajar and virtually every other boss fight except the last one.
First Phase Of The Fight
You can parry most of Fajar's moves. However, he has one sweep kick and a jump kick where he launches himself off the environment that you should dodge by leaning right or left. Stay close so he does not repeat this move. Parry his other punch and kick combos. When he is done, land a few hits. Rinse and repeat. Use the Strong Sweep Focus to knock him on the ground and get a few free hits in.
Second Phase Of The Fight
The second part of the fight has bamboo trees growing all around the environment. Fajar also brandishes a large blade. He adds a deadly move where he temporarily hides in the bushes and then jumps out for a surprise attack.
You can either dodge this attack by moving to the left or right or run away from it so he cannot reach you. Either way, he leaves himself open to attack afterwards. All his other moves can either be parried or dodged easily. After each combo, you should have a chance to punch him. Once his health is low enough and his Structure is built up, you can enact the takedown and you have beaten the boss.
Fajar is only the first of five bosses, most of whom are significantly harder and are in later levels. With this in mind, we recommend doing this level several times to minimize deaths. Once you are used to his attack patterns and become accustomed to parries and dodges, it is quite easy to end the first level at only age 24 or so. The fewer times you die here, the more room for error you have in harder fights.
Sparing Fajar The Botanist
To Spare Fajar the Botanist on the second playthrough to earn the true ending, you have to build up his stagger bar twice in the second phase. Do not initiate the takedown after the first time he is dazed. Wait, and he'll start fighting again. Build up the bar again and when he is ready to be taken out, you will see a prompt to spare him.
Make sure not to fully deplete his health. Play more defensively with parries and dodges to build up the structure bar without hurting him. Since this is already your second playthrough and the levels themselves should be more manageable, you should invest only in Structure and parrying upgrades to make this achievement easier.
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