What is the “Research” mode for, what side quests are better, where to look for armor, how to improve weapons, how to get engravings and more
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a fantastic new action game from Ubisoft , this time dedicated to events that took place several centuries before Bayek founded the Assassin Order. There are several very important points that you should know before starting the game. All of them can be found in our today’s material.
Play Explore Mode
This is not just advice, but even a strong recommendation that all fans of the series should follow. Exploration Mode is, in fact, one of the most significant and compelling features added to the franchise in the new Assassin’s Creed release . Choosing this option for passing the game, you turn off numerous markers and quest objectives, so you can independently explore locations, showing your skills of observation and attentiveness. The mode will offer you a more challenging gaming experience that old school lovers have been missing.
Selecting a game mode
The most interesting side quests?
Odyssey has tons of great side quests with their own storyline. Some missions bring up serious and intense topics, others seem as lighthearted and funny as possible. Some of the quests are even related to the main story. In the game world, quests are divided into two types.
The first of these are quests marked on the map with gold or black gems . These are the main side quests that are most relevant and, judging by our experience, must be completed in the first place.
The other type of missions are much easier and faster to complete. They usually involve some simple task. On the map, such tasks are indicated by black and white diamonds. They can also be found on message boards in various cities. The quality of such quests leaves much to be desired: if in the first case it will be necessary to protect the philosopher, then in the second one – to run a few meters and talk with the selected character. And it’s all. Thus, if you are interested in the plot, atmosphere, intrigue and fascinating denouement are important to you, then we recommend choosing only the main side quests.
On the other hand, in our article on quickly gaining experience points, we pointed out that all these small tasks on the message boards are required. Just start completing them without getting stuck on the walkthrough itself: sooner or later you will take the action necessary to complete the task.
Find and upgrade weapons and armor
Weapons and armor in Odyssey play an important role, allowing you to customize the main character. There are several ways to get new, more powerful equipment. Completing numerous side quests (main category) seems to be a fairly simple option. Moreover, in the corresponding menu you can see in advance the reward that you will receive if you complete the mission.
Another great way to get equipment is with mercenaries. Take a look at the mercenary menu to find out what loot drops out of it, and then track the character whose loot you are most interested in.
Inventory
Also, pay attention to the massive battles to conquer regions. Here, loot with epic equipment drops out at random.
If you find equipment that you like and want to stay in it as long as possible, then do not forget about the possibility of upgrading equipment from the blacksmith. Thanks to this character, your armor can be adjusted to the current level of the main character. This is a great way to use legendary gear found early in the game in later stages. Equipment can be improved with engravings that provide special bonuses, including increased damage against enemies of a certain type or enhancing available skills.
Don’t forget about engravings
The best way to get engravings is to solve puzzles with different riddles, which are similar to the papyrus system from Assassin’s Creed Origins . Follow the clues to the treasury, you can find the engraving. Engravings can be modified by completing an associated goal or objective, so complete them to make the most of the items’ potential.
Engravings are not disposable items, so you can equip them at any convenient time without trying to “save for later.” At any time, for a small fee, the engravings can be replaced with the most suitable ones.
Application of engraving
Get rid of excess junk
If you are from the category of gamers who collect all the loot that comes under their feet, then soon fill your inventory with numerous weapons and armor. But you don’t need to store all this. Be sure to sort the received items, visit merchants to sell them and make money. By the way, weapons and armor can be destroyed to obtain resources that will be useful for modifying the current equipment and ship.
Selling all unnecessary things
Best skills
Unlike Origins in Odyssey, you can buy and swap abilities. You have a skill tree divided into three main branches – “Hunter”, “Warrior” and “Assassin”. Initially, you will have access to eight slots for equipping skills – four for ranged attacks and four for hand-to-hand combat.
If you are looking for something of the highest value, then we have some recommendations. Enemies with shields can be a pain in the ass during major battles. That is why we recommend taking the Shield Breaker perk, which allows you to rip shields out of the hands of opponents and use them to deal damage. If you want to kill captains and other enemies with a large supply of health points as quickly as possible, then choose the “Heroic Strike” skill, which will allow you to inflict huge damage in open combat as if you were attacking the enemy in stealth mode.
If you prefer to play the game stealthily and silently, then pay attention to the “Swift surprise attack” skill , which allows you to literally break the laws of physics when throwing a javelin: after throwing you will teleport next to the target. Use this skill in order to clean up enemy bases in stealth mode without raising an alarm.
The skill “Critical surprise attack” is no less important than the previous one – with its help you will inflict more damage , which will allow you to kill more skilled and stable enemies. Finally, get the Spartan Kick skill, which will allow you to knock enemies back by sending them flying free from high cliffs or fortress walls. It looks fun, funny and resembles the movie “300 Spartans”.
Spartan kick
You can choose other perks
A very useful new function has appeared in the game, which allows you to reset all currently selected abilities at any time through the skills menu and redistribute skill points in a new way. A great option for those who made a mistake when choosing skills or overlooked a few more useful abilities. Or for those who decided to go through the game stealthily, but have already spent too many skill points on other branches in the skill tree.
Skill reset button
Where to find materials
In Odyssey, you will have to engage in constant search and collection of resources and materials. This is a key aspect of the game. They will be needed to upgrade the main character’s equipment and improve the ship. Fortunately, the need for resources and materials won’t turn into a real headache.
First, you can (and even should) disassemble unnecessary weapons and armor collected in combat. Also, equipment can be sold to merchants, but still, the resources obtained by disassembling it are much more valuable than the money you earn in the event of a sale.
Secondly, resources can be obtained from the environment: look for wood in forests, iron in caves. If you urgently need materials for crafting, then you can always buy them from merchants.
TIP : Before burning military objects in enemy camps, be sure to loot them. This will provide a huge amount of materials.
Collecting resources before burning a military facility
Farm epic equipment in battles to conquer regions
As a mercenary, the main character takes part in the war between Sparta and Athens. This fact can be used to your advantage. Each region is controlled by one of two factions. First, you must lower the occupation level, burn military facilities, loot chests, kill soldiers and the local leader. As soon as the counter is lowered to a sufficient level, it will become possible to fight for the conquest of the region. Please note that you can fight for any army by visiting the desired camp. Yes, it could even be the army whose military facilities you just burned, whose soldiers and leader you killed, weakening the situation in the region.
If you side with the defending army, you will receive one epic item, the invading army – two, but in the second case, the battle will be more difficult. Thus, if you want to get additional loot, then take the side of the invader.
Two items for winning a region capture
During the battle, keep an eye on the two scales at the top of the screen. Ignore basic opponents and focus on captains and hero units. This is the fastest way to win! Since you can be attacked by several opponents at once, choose skills that allow you to deal damage to more targets. For example, Rain of Destruction is a good skill.
The last advice on battles – do not delay the moment of the beginning of the battle , if it became available, because due to the long wait you may lose the opportunity to take part in it. Fortunately, this process can be repeated in the region as many times as you want, since this war in Odyssey will be endless. So here’s a great opportunity to quickly fill your inventory with epic gear.
Use quick and manual saves
If you’re a veteran of the Assassin’s Creed series, you might be missing out on the manual and quick saves introduced in Odyssey. In the course of the game, you will need to make a number of important decisions, so in several episodes you will have to go back, replaying certain moments. Fortunately, you can do this even with the help of saves, but it will still be much more convenient to use backups that you made manually (either through the menu or using the dedicated key).
Rewind time
As with Origins, you can rewind the time of day by holding the map button. It used to be a separate skill that needed to be unlocked in the skill tree, but in Odyssey it is available from the very beginning. Despite this, the game does not specifically inform you about the presence of this feature, so you may not even notice it. The choice of time of day is very important: it is much more convenient to clear enemy camps at night, since most of the guards will go to sleep.