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Overview
The lands of Ashina are a treacherous landscape to explore but to complete our assigned mission; Wolf needs all the help he can get. For this purpose, after losing his arm, Wolf gets fitted with a prosthetic capable of using various tools to help in his battles across Ashina. Every tool in the game has some particular or specific function to help with the journey through Ashina. However, some tools are more helpful than others. You can locate most of the crucial tools within the game’s initial hours. Still, some may be difficult to identify or easily missed. The tool I found the most useful in my entire play-through and used the most is one that most players usually just pass by. It is the Firecracker prosthetic.
The Firecracker prosthetic is easily the best tool against most enemies, especially beast types. It can easily be integrated with your fighting style and can be used to combo different attacks. I will be providing information on where to locate the Firecracker prosthetic and how to use it efficiently.
Tool Information
The Shinobi firecracker is effective against all enemies but especially useful against beast enemies. It manages to stun all enemies and inflicts posture damage to beast enemies. It has a wide range and can be upgraded in several ways according to your own play style.
- Tool Name: Shinobi Firecracker
- Item Type: Key Item
- The item uses: Costs 2 Spirit Emblems per use
- Upgrades: 3
It is different from other tools which are found and received such that this tool requires purchase from a Memorial Mob.
Location
First Memorial Mob
The most efficient way to acquire it would be purchasing it from the Crow’s Bed Memorial Mob.
To reach the location, start from the Outskirts Wall – Gate Path sculptor idol. You can find it right after where you fought the first mini-boss, General Naomiri Kawarada. When you reach on top of the door which the General was guarding, to the left, a small tent is visible on top of a hill which seems complicated to reach directly; that is where you will find the tool. The optimum path would be to go down towards the woman in a broken house right in front of the pathway leading down. Be careful, though, I ended up getting discovered, and a swarm of enemies started attacking me, be stealthy. As soon as you reach the house, you will see an older woman pointing towards the large doorway. Get the Charm bell from her (you don’t have to, but it will be helpful) -She is Inosuke’s mother- and continue down the path.
Go past the man lying by the rock (He is Inosuke Nogami); before you reach the gate, a mortar handler will spot you. Choosing to kill him is up to you. From that spot, use the grappling hook to directly reach a grapple point at some height left from the gate. Climb up that point, and you will see a second grapple point at some height from where you are, use that to get to an even higher vantage point. You will finally see the third and final grapple spot right on top of you; use it to reach the Memorial Mob, which was the tent you saw earlier.
Once you reach the Mob, you have to buy the item Robert’s firecrackers from them. It would cost 500 Sen, and if you’re short on money, feel free to sell some items or use coin purses from your inventory. You can find a few coin purses under Inoskue’s mother’s home but beware since some enemies guard it.
Second Memorial Mob
You can also buy the Firecracker from the Battle Field Memorial Mob, next to the tower. After beating Gyoubu Oniwa, view the now desolate battlefield and move towards the right, where you will find large stairs that lead upwards. On the right, a large building is visible. Keep to the wall on the right side of the stairs and head towards the right of the building. When you reach the edge, look to the left, and you will find a few stairs which lead up to a small tent; the Mob is located on the right side of the tower atop the stairs. I would recommend getting the tool beforehand since it makes the fight with Gyoubu Oniwa significantly more manageable. You have to buy the item Robert’s firecrackers from them. It would still cost 500 sen.
Crafting the Tool
After buying Roberts Firecrackers from the memorial Mob, take it back to the dilapidated temple. I recommend using a homeward idol-An item in your inventory that Wolf receives initially; you use it to go back to the Dilapidated Temple- unless you want to fight your way through. Talk to the Sculptor at the temple, and he will take the “Roberts Firecrackers” item and fit you with the Shinobi Firecracker prosthetic. Select it from the inventory, and it is ready for use.
Upgrades
You can use the Sculptor’s idol to upgrade your prosthetics as you progress through the game and receive new items and tools. The upgrade tree for the Firecracker prosthetic is beneficial, and I highly recommend upgrading it. Although some things may be tedious to acquire, they will be constructive in the long run.
Spring Load firecracker
This upgrade allows the firecrackers to be spread out in a 360-degree radius, but it requires a bit more time to execute. For this upgrade, you need 200 Sen. I found this helpful occasionally. Still, it usually hinders the fast-paced fight since quick movements are required, and Sekiro is designed for one-on-one combat. I would not recommend keeping this upgrade; the only time you would genuinely use it is to escape after being surrounded by a cluster of enemies. You can manage even that with the simple firecrackers.
Items Required
- Spinning Shuriken (Found under the collapsed gatehouse after the Outskirts Wall-Gate path idol)
- 2 Scrap Iron
- 1 Black Gunpowder
Long Spark
This upgrade allows the firecrackers to keep bursting for a long while. This allows a longer time for the stagger effect to take place and even impacts more enemies that move into its development area. This was the most helpful version of the Firecracker since it allowed a more extensive period for me to operate and execute my attacks resulting in fewer waster spirit emblems. It requires 500 Sen to make. I would highly recommend keeping this version until you become an absolute pro at all Sekiro combat styles.
Items Required
- Previous upgrades
- 2 Yellow Gunpowder
- 3 Black Gunpowder
Purple Fume Spark
The final upgrade for the Firecracker lets out a purple fume that increases the damage and weakens the enemy’s posture from attacks. It is challenging to execute, and the timing must be precise, especially for boss battles. At the same time, during standard play-throughs, the difference is negligible. Still, if you’re used to the combat, any help is appreciated. I would recommend this upgrade only for seasoned Sekiro players because it requires a lot of practice to master combat with this tool. It requires 1500 Sen to make.
Items Required
- Previous Upgrades
- Sparking Axe (Found in the Hirata estate, talk to the person in the temple)
- 5 Lump of Fat Wax
- 2 Adamantite Scrap
- 2 Fulminated Mercury
Farming the Required Material
You can find some of these materials throughout Ashina. While acquiring some materials would be difficult, I will tell you the best ways to farm them. Don’t forget to use the Mibu Balloon for increased drop rates. You can also use the Demon Bell to increase drop rates near the Shugendo’s Sculptors Idol. Beware! That will make the game difficult until you use the Demon Bell -an item you receive after ringing the bell- to remove the debuffs and cancel its effects.
You can also get the Virtuous deed and Most Virtuous Deed upgrades from the Temple arts skill tree.
- Scrap Iron: Easily dropped by most enemies but can also be bought from Mobs.
- Black Gunpowder: Ashina Outskirts was where I farmed it quickly. You can also buy it like Scrap Iron.
- Yellow Gunpowder: Canon Enemies are the most efficient way to farm this item. I used the one near the Poison Pool Idol, but you can also use the one in the Ashina Outskirts.
- Lumps of Fat Wax: Senpou Monks are an excellent way to farm for this Item. If you have unlocked Fountainhead Palace, Most squid enemies have a higher drop rate.
- Adamantite Scrap: The most annoying one to get, it’s dropped by the straw hat monks outside the Senpou temple. Since these are the most difficult enemies to fight, try to attack them stealthily. Do not hesitate to rest back at the idol if you are seen.
- Fulminated Mercury: It has a much lesser drop rate, but I used the Canon Enemy at the poison pool idol to farm this item. It is incredibly tedious, so brace yourself and hope that luck is on your side. Always use any items you can to help increase drop rates for this item.
Combat Prowess
As soon as I received the Firecracker, it became an integral part of my fighting portfolio. You can use the Firecracker to stun various enemies and keep launching a barrage of strikes as long as you can use it. I try to follow the stun caused by the Firecracker with the Shuriken close strike skill or the Ichimonji, depending on the type of enemy I encounter.
Suppose you ever find yourself stuck in a swarm of foes. In that case, the Firecracker can easily stagger all of them, and you can use that to either escape or change the tides of battle to your advantage.
I found myself using the tool mostly during demanding boss or mini-boss battles. Gyoubu Oniwa and The Flaming Bull are two great examples since the Firecracker creates large openings against beast-type enemies. I would even recommend using the firecrackers against challenging bosses like Isshin or Owl. You can avoid their strong area attacks by stunning them with the firecrackers, which can help using a deadly moment to your advantage. It is one of the most valuable tools in the game and can help in almost every situation; it can become even more potent after it has been upgraded.
Once used against beast-type enemies, the tool will be effective again against them after 15 seconds. This is because it breaks their posture, but you can consistently use it since it doesn’t break the posture of non-beast-type enemies (it only stuns them). It is unsatisfactory, and some might call it “the easy way.” Still, it’s very effective since it manages to stun lock the enemy, and all your attacks connect, hey! Sometimes we need all the help we can get.
Conclusion
I found the Firecracker to be the most helpful and fun tool to experiment with in the game. Its uses are valuable, and when paired with seasoned players, the amount of combo moves are intense. New players can use this tool to buy time, figure out enemy movement, and escape from challenging situations. In contrast, seasoned players can use these moments to inflict a barrage of attacks on bosses and enemies, inducing vitality or posture damage. It is fun to use and easily incorporate into your play style, and with its upgrades, you can always try to perfect the timing of the Plume Fume Spark for max damage. I would highly recommend using the tool early on and getting used to playing with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Do all enemies get stunned by the firecrackers?
Answer: While almost every enemy is affected by the stun effect of the firecrackers, one of the few enemies that are immune to the stun and only their posture is affected are the headless and headless apes. Now, if you’ve played Sekiro, I bet you were as shocked as I was fighting the ape the first time, but him not getting affected by the firecrackers even though he is a beast is just what I would expect from the game, to hit you with a curve ball when you least expect it. Nonetheless, it would be best if you welcomed the challenge; after all, it is a FromSoftware game.
Question: Why doesn’t the Firecracker tool work sometimes?
Answer: You must be having this problem mainly going against beast-type enemies. To make the game fair, I believe there is a hidden cooldown against beast-type enemies when you use the Firecracker tool. I estimated the time to be about 15 seconds.
Question: I upgraded the prosthetic tool, but it still launches the same attack.
Answer: After upgrading the tool, you need to go into the inventory to un-equip the previous version and equip the new upgraded tool. I also made this mistake, so double-check, and it will work like a breeze.
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