How to cure Sekiro Dragon rot and stop everyone getting sick when you die

How to cure Sekiro Dragon Rot soon becomes a pressing issue once you understand how it works and what it does. It involves finding Dragon Blood Droplets as a cure to prevent the curse like effects of Dragon Rot affecting both characters in the game and your own progress (essentially the more it builds up the less your chances of keeping items when you die). Basically Dragon Rot makes everything harder in Sekrio  and given how difficult it is already at the start you really want to minimise that. This Sekrio Dragon Rot guide will explain exactly how it all works and how to cure it. 

Sekiro walkthrough | Sekiro tips | Sekiro Prayer Beads | Sekiro Gourd seeds | Sekiro bosses| Sekiro endings| Sekiro Snap Seeds | Sekiro Shinobi Prosthetic tools | Sekiro Treasure Carp Scales

How does Sekiro Dragonrot work?

You will inevitably become acquainted with the Sekiro Dragonrot during the early hours of playing. After a few very acceptable deaths at the hands of your enemies, the disease will spread to the inhabitants of the Dilapidated Temple, including Emma the Physician and your crouching mate, the Sculptor. 

Once this happens, it becomes a bit of a local crisis. The Rot Essence weighing on you damages your Unseen Aid percentage, a mechanic that lets you restore money and XP when you die. It’s absolutely natural to panic about what could happen if its left unsaid. Crucially, when you first get these notifications, you need to speak to Emma and your sculpting friend often to trigger a mini-quest about it.

Emma will essentially notice the problem and you’ll talk it out with her. After a few conversations she will research the issue and attempt to synthesize a solution, but she needs your help.

How do you cure Sekiro Dragonrot?

Emma will then task you with finding a blood sample from someone infected. We found our sample from the old bell-ringing lady. She’s the one who you pick up the first memory from, and is quite hard to miss. Yet, it’s confirmed that this could be any NPC depending on where you are, so if you see someone wheezing just talk to them!

Once you get your sample give it back to Emma at the temple, and she will give you two items, a Recovery Charm and a Dragon’s Blood Droplet. You can now use the droplets at any Sculptor’s Idol to cure the afflicted parties of all Dragonrot and reset.

This is crucial because, whilst we’re not absolutely certain on the effects, it seems like NPC quests stop functioning when they’re diseased. This isn’t good for anyone, naturally, and there is the risk that they could die if you keep going without popping a droplet. The pink circle in the bottom left corner of your screen seems to have something to do with it too, as it fills up every time you draw on the dragon blood to resurrect.

How do you get extra Dragon’s Blood Droplets?

It’s made very clear as you progress that Dragon’s Blood Droplets are a finite resource in Sekiro, and finding more is a struggle. The most reliable source of droplets are vendors. Most vendors will sell a single droplet for 180 sen. Buy them early in case you find yourself in a rough spot, and actively seek out recurring vendors like the tented Mob salesman who appears in most main areas to ensure you have extra.

Outside of the above, you can actually find droplets as drops from certain enemies and in special locations on the map if you’re very lucky, so do put your explorer’s hat on and get out there. Sometimes traversing into the unknown can be a danger to your friends, but it’s either that or keep on dying, so make the right choice and take cautious steps into new locations to find potentially life-saving items. 

That’s pretty much it as far as Sekiro Dragonrot goes. Stay safe, and be sure to stock up on droplets for the long road ahead.