Sekiro Axe location | How to break through shields with the Axe Prosthetic Tool

The Loaded Axe is a Prosthetic Tool you can get in Sekiro that will help you break through shields. You’ll encounter enemies carrying shields for the first time in Hirata Estate, and they’ll be blocking the way you need to go to get deeper in. Fortunately, the Shinobi Axe of the Monkey is nearby, and you can use it to make the axe in Sekiro you need to turn those shields to splinters.

Sekiro Axe Location | Where to get the Axe Prosthetic Tool

The item you need to craft the Loaded Axe in Sekiro is located in Hirata Estate, not too far from where you’ll meet the first shield enemies. It’s found in a Shinobi temple in the estate, though it’s not apparent the building is a temple from the outside.

To get to the temple from where you start when you spawn into the Hirata Estate map, you need first to make your way down the cliff. Jump and use your grappling hook to move from branch to branch until you reach the ground.

After hitting the ground, cross the bridge and enter the building. This long entranceway leads to a gate, which is closed for now. You’ll find the Estate Path Sculptor’s Idol, which you will use to get in and out of this area for a little bit. From the idol, you can grapple up the wall, then cross behind it to avoid some enemies. Grapple up the wall when you reach a dead end, and you’ll find yourself near the barred gate. You need to go through the crack in the wall that is east of the door, through the building, then hang a left to reach the next area.

Your objective is to reach the other side of the door blocking your way to the path where the idol is. If you can reach that door and unlock it, it’ll make getting back to this area a lot easier if you die. Once the gate is open, grapple onto the wall to the left and continue grappling towards the steps at the end of this path.

Pass the walled in area with the big chickens, there’s nothing exceptional in there, and you’ll see another walled in space with a small temple. A friendly thief will be in front of it trying to find a way to get in. Head the opposite direction of the temple door, and you’ll see two soldiers trying to break down a door. Lock onto one and instant deathblow him from the air, then take out the other one. Grapple up past the door they were trying to get into, and you’ll find a relatively safe area. Keep going the opposite direction of the door, and there will be another walled in space you can cross into.

You’ll see two soldiers talking near a fence in this area. Before you take them out, head into the building on the left and stealth kill the soldier in there. You can then head back out to the courtyard and eavesdrop on the soldiers. Their conversation lets you know that the building they’re guarding is a temple. Once you kill them both, you can open the doors on the temple, and you’ll find the Shinobi Axe of the Monkey.

Once you have the Shinobi Axe of the Monkey, just head back to the Estate Path Sculptor’s Idol and return to the Dilapidated Temple to have the sculptor install the Loaded Axe into your arm.

How to break shields with the axe in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice

Just past the area, you find the axe in the Hirata Estate you’ll need to head up the steps to progress further. At the top of the steps, you’ll meet your first soldiers with shields in Sekiro.

These guys are super annoying. They can block your sword easily, and bash you with their shield as a counterattack. You can either try and dodge behind them and attack, stun them with an item, or use the axe. The axe is pretty much meant to deal with this kind of enemy, so it’s the weapon of choice here. One hit with it will splinter their shield and leave them open to a deathblow. Using the axe to break shields in Sekiro turns these fellows from annoying to absolutely easy to defeat.