Ghost of Tsushima: Best Tactics & Ghost Weapons You Need To Unlock First

Once you begin exploring the beautifully detailed (and vast) open-world of Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll be given an enormous amount of choices with those upgrade points. You can unlock tons of different stuff in the Techniques tab — Samurai skills, stance attacks, ghost weapons and evolving tactics. Ghost Weapons and Evolving Tactics are what we’re talking about here, and those abilities are all about maintaining stealth.

Stealth is incredibly powerful in Ghost of Tsushima — stealthing bases is important because you can gain double points towards new stances. By observing a Mongol Leader, then defeating them, you’ll gain two points and unlock stances much faster. If you avoid raising an alarm and watching a Mongol Leader without him knowing it, you’ll earn two points toward your next stance.

And stances are really important — the final stance makes Brutes much easier. It’s a relief to finally take those tough guys down easily.

More Ghost of Tsushima guides:

10 Tips To Help You Become A Master Samurai | Beginner’s Guide | How To Get The Sly Cooper Easter Egg Trophy

Best Ghost Weapons To Get First:

Wind Chime: Pairs best with Chain Assassination. With the Wind Chime, you’ll be able to sneak through basically any base in the game. There are two forms of Wind Chime — standard, and Firecrackers which draw more enemies. You can swap between the two gadget types, then easily lure enemies away, or bring several enemies together for a chain assassination.

Sticky Bomb: A killer weapon that combos well with Typhoon Kick. Use this nasty ghost weapon as a finisher in combat. Send enemies flying, and juggle them with arrows and a sticky bomb blast.

Kunai: Amazing for taking down boars and other wild animals. Use these to easily hunt and kill enemies in close-range combat, then you can sell the hides.

Best Evolving Tactics To Get First:

Chain Assassination: Like I said above, stealth is incredibly powerful in Ghost of Tsushima, and using stealth can help you unlock your new stances much faster by observing unalerted Mongol leaders.

Concentration: This Archery skill gives you a short window where time is slowed, allowing you to pick off enemies with your bow. It’s incredibly effective in many situations — you can take out a few annoying enemies, or kill a Mongol that’s about to spot you while you’re sneaking.

Iron Will: Early in the game, it’s pretty easy to let yourself get killed. You’re still learning the ropes, so it’s bound to happen! If you’re looking for a second chance, unlock Iron Will early — when you’re downed, you can revive yourself with two Resolve charges.

Killer’s Instinct: The all-time powerful stealth ability is the last under the Focused Hearing tree. This skill generates a flashing aura on enemies that can be seen. With this, you’ll always know when it’s safe to use assassination.

There are many useful Ghost Weapons and Tactics, but these are the abilities I recommend getting first. Depending on your playstyle, you might prefer Black Powder Bombs, or you might enjoy the killer fun of Standoff Streaks.

You’ll eventually be able to unlock everything in the game, but these starting skills will help you the most in the early game.