The third boss of Sifu is The Artist — an elegant woman of high society residing at the top of her own personal art museum. She’s another test of the player’s skill, mixing high and low attacks that are devastating on the first fight. Like the second boss, the Fighter, this battle is crushing the spirit of thousands of players. She’s extremely tough, but with a little practice and a few tips, this fight becomes so much easier. If I can do it, you can too.
After multiple wins, I think I can safely say there is a strategy to her weapon-slinging madness. The Artist has two very different phases. In her first phase, she uses a three-section bladed staff that has far range and difficult-to-dodge swings. You’ll have to learn her patterns to overcome. The second phase is all about knives and lightning-fast attacks. Ironically, the second phase is actually a lot more predictable. If you can beat the first phase, the second is a breeze in comparison.
More Sifu guides:
Beginner’s Guide | Best Skills To Permanently Unlock First | Best Shrine Rewards To Unlock First | How To Beat The Warrior | How To Beat The CEO | How To Beat The Leader | How To Spare Bosses & Unlock The True Ending
How To Beat The Artist | The Museum Boss Guide
You can take the elevator directly up to her boss arena from the first floor. No series of trials to deal with here. If you want to unlock an extra Shrine Reward, take the stairs up to the fourth floor and grab it, then use the elevator to reach the boss arena with the second Shrine.
Phase 1:
The first phase of The Artist is a beast. She uses a three-section staff and rapidly switches between high and low attacks. Dodging is extremely difficult — you’ll have to master her combos and perfect your timing to successfully dodge high or low during her attacks. If you can time your dodges, you can rapidly take her down.
- Dodge high / low to build Focus and unleash Strong Sweep Focus. You can also land a tight parry attack after her combo and knock her down.
- She has two types of combos — where she alternates low attack, high attack, low attack, etc and where she only uses high attacks. When she attacks vertically, those are all high attacks, so dodge [L1+Down] to avoid. Her high / low alternating horizontal combos make her tricky. Practice the timing and perfect a quick strike to stagger her.
- To make this fight slightly easier, go into the fight with a Baseball Bat. You can get one from the enemies at the start, or by taking the stairs up then using the elevator.
To make this fight much, much easier — stand back and wait for her to come to you. You can wait and see what combo she’s about to use, then dodge appropriately when she reaches you. This makes predicting her attacks very easy. If she uses an alternating high / low combo, you’ll know to do the same.
- Pro-Tip: After even more practice, I’ve found the best possible way to deal with her first phase. When she’s performing horizontal attacks, STAY AWAY. Don’t even attempt to fight her when she’s spinning around. Wait for her to perform her rushdown vertical swings — dodge down rapidly [L1+Down] to easily dodge, rebuild your focus, and counterattack. If you don’t even engage with her horizontal swings, this fight becomes incredibly easy and safe.
Seriously! Just stand back and wait for her to come to you. If you do that, you’ll always know what she’s up to. If she attacks with her alternating high / low combo, just remember to dodge low, then high, then low, then high. Once you realize this, the first phase is a breeze.
Phase 2:
Phase 2 is a slightly easier phase — if you’re struggling with dealing with Phase 1’s low attacks. At this point, all of her attacks can be dodged with the high attack dodge [L1+Down]. Dodge high to avoid all of her projectiles. There’s no reason to chase her. Stand still and wait for her to come to you.
- The artist uses projectiles in this fight. Dodge high attacks [L1+Down] to avoid literally everything she throws at you.
- To stagger her, wait for her to attempt a long-range knife lunge attack. She’ll zip across the arena and attempt a powerful strike. Dodge high [L1+Down] — if you time it perfectly, you’ll stagger her.
- If you’ve unlocked Weapon Catch you can catch her small throwing knives. When she throws knives directly at you (not the large wave) you can catch and throw them back at her by timing [L1].
She’s much faster in the phase, so learning how to rapidly dodge her attacks is required. There’s less to remember, and you can wait for her to come to you — no need to chase. Chasing her only makes the fight more difficult. Use her knives against her, and strike when she leaves an opening. After throwing knives, she’ll lunge directly at you in a surprisingly fast attack. Dodge it, then strike back for a stagger that rapidly drains her structure.
