Sifu: How To Beat The First Level (The Squats) Without Dying
A challenge players can take on early in Sifu is beating the first level without dying. Across the whole duration of the game, the player has a finite amount of lives, represented by a pendant of coins. If the player dies too many times, a coin on the pendant will break. Once all the coins are broken and the player dies, it’s game over.
Sifu is a beat ‘em up styled after martial arts films like The Raid and Dragons Forever. After a man named Yang murders his former martial arts teacher—or sifu—the child of the sifu trains to seek revenge on Yang and his four accomplices. The child is willing to spend their whole life to avenge their father, as shown through the game’s use of aging.
Along with the limited number of lives, the player will be restricted from more and more upgrades as they age. Sifu incentivizes players to avoid death and stay young through this mechanic. One of the best strategies for longevity in Sifu is to beat the first level, the Squats, without dying. This guide will go over some strategies for how to achieve a deathless run of the Squats.
To prepare to take on Sifu’s first level deathless, the player should grab the keys from the skull twins. About halfway through the level, the player will need to fight the skull twins miniboss in order to progress through the locked door. However, once the player has the keys, they will also now have access to the shortcut near the beginning of the level. Using this shortcut will allow the player to skip the long route and the large number of enemies found in the hallway fight referencing Oldboy, making the path to the end safer.
However, because the player gets XP from defeating enemies in Sifu, the trade-off for taking this path is the player will have less XP to work with. If the player has not permanently unlocked many skills, the player will not be able to unlock as many skills when using the shortcut. If the player wishes, they can run through the level a few times, focusing on unlocking permeant upgrades. Going the long route is preferable when doing this, as there are more enemies down this path to gain XP from. One tip for Sifu beginners is to use Snap Kick, Weapon Mastery, Environmental Mastery, and Strong Sweep which are very helpful skills for completing this first stage deathless.
Once the player is prepared, they can take the shortcut and quickly get to the end of the level. Along the shortcut, the player will encounter four enemies, two with weapons. They are normal enemies, so the player can take them down as usual. The player should also be sure not to miss the dragon shrine on the patio.
Once the player has gone through the locker room in Sifu, they will be in the warehouse where Fajar’s lackies are concealing the drugs to be shipped. Following tips from the Sifu devs themselves, the player should fight smart and take down a few enemies off to the side without alerting the whole room. First, the player should go to the right towards the stairs. There will be a woman on a phone that can be silently taken down. Running up and using a leg sweep is most effective for quick takedowns. Next, going up the stairs, there will be a woman in a mask walking forward that can be taken down. Continuing down the path the woman was walking, there will be one more woman looking down over the railing. After taking her down, the player can then return to the staircase they went up. Next to those stairs will be another set going up. The player can climb up those, vault over the boxes and drop down where a man is looking over the railing. Once he is defeated, the player can jump down or take the stairs down to fight the rest in an exciting brawl. If the player has the Environmental Mastery ability, they can use the bottles and stools around the room to knock over or stun enemies.
After clearing this room in Sifu, the player can move on to the next, where a large enemy and two armed enemies are guarding a door. If the player has a pipe from the previous room, they can use it to quickly take down the large enemy. The best way to approach him is to play defensively. Holding down L1 and dodging his attacks and grab will allow the player to maneuver around the enemy and leave him open for an attack. Once the large enemy to down, the other two can be defeated as normal.
The path ahead will have no enemies and leads to the private room door and Fajar, the first boss of Sifu. The key to defeating this boss is to use dodges. Like with the large enemy, holding down L1 and dodging his attacks is the most effective way to get attacks in. Fajar’s attacks are much quicker than any of the previous enemies, but his attack patterns are consistent. The player should learn the rhythm to Fajar’s combos to be able to dodge them effectively. After dodging enough, the characters will slow down a bit. This is when the player can attack. Using sweeps to get Fajar on the ground is effective. The player can also use focus abilities like Eye Jab and Strong Sweep on Fajar to stun or knock him down. The player should also look out for Fajar's overhead kick and his sweeps. His overhead will deal a lot of damage and have a massive impact on the player’s structure. His sweep will know the player on the ground. Both attacks can be dodged by hold L1 and pressing up on the left stick or by pressing R2.
Once Fajar’s health has been depleted or the player uses a take down on him, the fight will move into phase two. In this phase, Fajar wields a machete (just like the scene from Sifu's live-action adaption) and his attacks will be more aggressive. The player can use the same strategies as before—becoming familiar with Fajar’s attack patterns, dodging to their rhythm, parrying, and countering. The player should make sure to dodge any attacks where Fajar uses his machete, as it will do more damage. The player can run around the arena and pick up their own weapon, a short staff, if they wish. One new attack the player should watch out for in this phase is when Fajar jumps out of the bamboo to slice the player. The player will need to dodge back with R2 to avoid this attack. They should make sure to dodge later rather than sooner, as dodging too early will still cause the player to get hit. As before, using Strong Sweeps and Eye Jabs will help the player lessen Fajar’s health and weaken his structure. With enough dodging and trading attacks like proper martial arts choreography, the player will be able to take down Fajar, completing the first level of Sifu deathless.
Sifu is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.