Do Reflections/Gauntlets of Strength contribute to Dragonrot, and can I increase my stats when I fight them?
In the free update, they added "Reflections of Strength" for boss fights, which gives the advice that it "does not affect reality" in terms of items, etc. To me, this seems like Sekiro is meditating upon previous battles.
I have gained my first Reflection against Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa, and my first impression is that he is much stronger then my previous encounter with him.
So my question is two-fold: does defeat (and the use of resurrection) lead to Dragonrot, and can I increase my stats/abilities to contribute to this fight?
- Dying in a Reflection or Gauntlet does not contribute to Dragonrot as far as I know
- Your and the boss' stats are set to a pre-determined level in a Reflection, increasing your real attack power will not affect this fight.
The main purpose of the Reflections is to prepare you for the Gauntlets which have you fight several bosses in a row. They're purposefully harder than their "real" versions, especially the early game bosses like Gyoubu who are easier in the normal game because they're fought before the Wolf has access to most of his tools.