Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Modding with DSMapStudio

Sekiro has one advantage no other FromSoftware game gives you: it's entirely single-player. No PvP, no matchmaking, no anti-cheat — so unlike Dark Souls 3, you can run modded Sekiro however you like with zero ban risk. That makes it a relaxed game to learn on, with the standard workflow: unpack with UXM, create a project, edit params and text. The one caveat is the Map Editor, which is rougher on Sekiro than on the Souls games.

Single-player — mod freely

The game has no online component at all — no multiplayer, no covenants, no matchmaking. Where DS3 forces a clean split between modded and online installs, Sekiro has nothing to ban you from: rebalance, swap enemies, experiment, and just load through ModEngine2 and play. No separate installs to manage.

Setup, in order

1. Install DSMapStudio — release build, VC++ x64 + .NET 7, outside Program Files (installation guide).
2. Unpack with UXM Selective Unpack — param/msg for params and text, plus map, chr, asset for the Map Editor.
3. New Project → Game Type: Sekiro, Game Directory on the unpacked files (first project setup).
4. Verify — weapon and enemy rows load with names.

Sekiro at a glance

What you can edit

Most Sekiro mods are param edits in regulation.bin: retune weapons and prosthetic tools, adjust enemy stats and the posture system that defines Sekiro's combat through NpcParam and related tables, change drops, and edit text. Workflow: Param Editor hub; bulk changes: CSV export/import. The headline community projects — playing as Isshin or other bosses, debug NPC controls — pair these param edits with external animation tools, but they all start from the same param foundation.

Map editing is rough on Sekiro — back up first

Before opening a Sekiro map, know it's the weakest spot. DSMapStudio does not render collision or navmesh for Sekiro (a limit it shares with Elden Ring), so you place objects without that visual context, and map editing has documented rough edges — the v1.11.1 hotfix specifically addressed Sekiro walkroute handling. Back up the map's MSB files before saving any map change. Param and text editing, by contrast, are fully reliable — if you only need combat and balance work, you never open the Map Editor.

Merging and troubleshooting

Two Sekiro mods both editing regulation.bin merge via the row-level CSV method in the merge regulation.bin guide. Sekiro-specific snags: params won't load/garbage values → confirm Game Type Sekiro + UXM-unpacked files (params not showing); map changes look wrong → collision/navmesh aren't rendered, back up MSB before saving; black viewport → Intel GPU limit; won't open at all → runtime/download issue.

Install, create your project, mod freely (no online mode), and head to the Param Editor hub.