Assassin's Creed: Odyssey - 15 Tips & Tricks To Help You Get Started

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey isn’t your typical open-world sneaking game. This latest sequel in the long-running franchise has gone full RPG, and you’ll be gleefully sneaking and stabbing across Ancient Greece while grinding for the greatest gear. There’s a whole lot to do in this sandbox, and it’s pretty overwhelming. To help you better understand all the possibilities, we’ve put together 15 tips to make mastering the arts of assassination just a little bit easier.

Really, I want to showcase some of the weird little things you can do in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. You can use the classic Spartan Kick to kill or recruit tough enemies. You can do tricks with your trusty steed — or even with your handy eagle companion. You can enter slo-mo in combat with Perfect Parry, or heal-up mid-battle with the right unlockable skills. There are hidden quests to explore, secret treasures to find inside goats, and plenty of other Easter eggs worth finding.

Here are 15 tips and tricks — and I’m always looking for more to add to the list.

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#1: Exploration Mode Is Intuitive, And Not Nearly As Hardcore As It Sounds

Exploration Mode sounds a lot harder than it actually is. You’ll still have access to your map, but you won’t find easy markers pointing you in the right direction. Instead, you’ll have to talk to NPCs and acquire hints that pop-up periodically. You aren’t left completely to fend for yourself. Think of it as a more freeform way to go from Point A to Point B. You’ll still get where you need to go with plenty of direction, you’ll just have to spent a little bit of time looking.

#2: Don’t Sell! Dismantle & Save Up For Expensive Upgrades

You’ll get a whole lot of loot in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. So much loot, you’ll probably be tempted to sell some of the lame, common junk you acquire while clearing outposts or raiding tombs. Here’s my advice: DON’T. Instead of selling your stuff for a few coins, dismantle your junk instead. Keep dismantling, and eventually you’ll save up a huge stack of random materials. Those materials will help when you’re upgrading your personal warship later down the line.

#3: The Spartan Kick Is Awesome For Insta-Kills & Non-Lethal Takedowns

If you’ve been waiting to shout “This. Is. Sparta!” in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey — well, you’re in luck. The Spartan Kick is a non-lethal ability you can unlock that’s also completely killer. If you’re anywhere near a ledge, you can send tough opponent careening directly to their doom. If you’re feeling more generous, you can use the Spartan Kick to non-lethally defeat tough opponents. That only works if you finish them off with the kick. So, your next question should be: why would I want to keep my enemies alive? There’s a good reason to do just that.

#4: Non-Lethal Takedowns Let You Recruit Bad Guys For Your Ship

If you avoid killing leaders or mercenaries, you can make amends. Downing a tough opponent with a non-lethal finishing blow will cause them to fall, giving you the option to recruit them. Tap [L3] and they’ll join your seafaring retinue as a Lieutenant. You can assign them to one of four slots on your ship, the Adrestia. If you don’t like them, you can just fire them.

#5: Don’t Like The White Outline While Hiding? You Can Turn It Off

Modern stealth games like to make it clear you’re hiding from enemies. When skulking in shadows or ducking into bushes, you’ll get a blinding white outline around your hero, showing that they’ve become one with the darkness. If that’s too distracting for you, you can actually disable this feature in the Options menu. You can disable lots of HUD elements in the Options menu, so I recommend giving the tab a look.

#6: Don’t Attack Civilians — They Fight Back!

Civilians won’t sit back and let you murder them anymore. These angry citizen-soldiers will take up arms against any silly Assassin that tries to turn to the dark side. If you’re feeling sadistic, and think you can take your frustrations out on innocent NPCs — think again. Not only will the populace summon mercenaries to hunt down our hero, the regular people on the streets will grab weapons and start fighting too!

#7: You Can Mount Your Horse While Sprinting

This isn’t new to the series, but if you want to stay stylish, you should always whistle to call your horse, and just keep running. Your horse will trot alongside you and you’ll immediately slide right up onto your steed. It’s the quickest way to mount, and it makes you feel pretty cool.

#8: There Are Story-Heavy Side-Quests Related To Each Main Mission (And You Can Miss Them)

As you progress, you’ll find tons of optional side-quests in each region. Some of these quests are clearly marked with a timer, showing that you’ve only got so much real-time to complete them before they disappear. Some quests aren’t so nice, and they’re directly related to your story Sequence. If you don’t complete these totally optional, story-related quests before you make future strides and advance a Sequence, you’ll miss out on the quests forever. Yep, they disappear without warning.

#9: Want Your Cyclops Eye Back? You Can Get It Back (With Goat Hunting)

Early in your adventures, you’ll collect and lose a valuable artifact. The Cyclops Eye gets gobbled up by a goat in a series of events, and it might seem lost forever. Not so. While you’re still stuck on the starting island, all you need to do is hunt down lots and lots of goats. Just keep hunting down goats (and skinning them) until you find the Cyclops Eye. You’ll even earn a little achievement / trophy for all that hard work.

#10: Bushes Can Hide An Infinite Supply Of Dead Bodies

Here’s something that’s common in Assassin’s Creed games, but not-so-common in other stealth games. Whereas the dumpsters and cupboards of Hitman can only hide two bodies, the bushes and assorted shrubbery of Assassin’s Creed: Origins can hide a limitless amount of dead bodies. If you position yourself in the right spot, you can just keep stabbing and dragging guards into the same bush, ad nauseum.

#11: Dodges Are Good, Perfect Parries Are Even Better

As we’ve learned from games like Bloodborne, there is a hierarchy in the time-honored roster of video game defensive maneuvers. Blocking is the lowest tier, dodging is mid-tier, and parries are legit-tier — and like any good action game, Perfect Parry is the best way to defend yourself in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. If you rely on dodges, you’ll never learn the unique timing requires for a Perfect Parry. If you parry, you’ll get a very Witch Time slo-mo period, giving you ample time to lay into your stunned, helpless opponent.

#12: Unlock Second Wind To Regenerate Health

Death doesn’t have to linger over your hero. If you unlock the Second Wind skill in the Warrior sub-tree, you’ll be able to bounce back into battle faster than ever before. You won’t always have time to sit back and regenerate in the shadows. Sometimes, it’s better to heal mid-combat, and Second Wind helps you stay alive just a little longer with a 25% boost. Is it required? No, not really. Does it help make life easier? Absolutely.

#13: Synchronization Spots Unlock Fast Travel Markers

The map in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is predictably huge. If you want to get around faster, you’ll want to unlock even more Fast Travel markers on your map. To do that, it helps to track down synchronization spots — which tend to be nice vantage points. Climb up and unlock those spots to cover your map in handy fast travel markers. It’s especially useful when you start hunting down side-quests, and need to reach those far-off locales.

#14: Your Pet Eagle Can Barrel Roll

Look, it’s just an important detail you should know. Your trusty eagle can do a barrel roll. It’s a returning trick from Assassin’s Creed: Origins, and I would riot in the streets if it was removed.

#15: There Are Multiple Endings (Including A Super-Secret True Ending)

One of the most surprising new features in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is that you’ll be able to make choices that affect the outcome of your story. Not only are there multiple endings, but there’s a huge super ending that you can unlock after completing the main game. I recommend playing through all the remaining quests in your log after you return in Sequence 7. You won’t want to miss a trip beneath the waves, to a certain incredible lost city.

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