Okay guys- so there’s a ship you have in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, because at this point, given the success of Black Flag, Ubisoft probably feels it is integral to the success of Assassin’s Creed games. That’s fine, the ship is fun. But good god does it need a lot of maintenance- we’re talking having to upgrade the ship, recruit a crew, and more. That’s what this guide walks you through.

RECRUITING A CREW FOR YOUR SHIP

Okay, so you need people on board your ship, or you can’t actually man it. See, you need men to man a ship, and you need a crew to have those men on board. How to solve this problem?

There are two ways to be able to get people on board, literally, your ship:

• Complete Quests: This one is simple. You complete quests, and upon completion of said quests, the NPC may join your crew. This works best with sidequests, but it doesn’t guarantee that the NPC in question actually hops on board. A better way to recruit crew is to…
• Knock enemies out in battle. You do this, and you can get them on board your ship and a part of your crew. To guarantee that you are knocking them out, you need to craft Paralyzing Arrows, using the Arrow Master unlock on the Hunter Skill Tree

PARTS OF YOUR SHIP THAT CAN BE UPGRADED

• Hull – Increases health and armor of ship. Furthermore, you can now add more lieutenant to the ship
• Javelins – Even more damage
• Javelin Throws – The ship will be able to perform successive attacks
• Fire Braziers – This will unlock fire javelins and arrows
• Arrows – Arrows will inflict even more damage
• Rower Stamina – Rower Stamina recharges quickly and also the amount sees a boost
• Ram – This will increase damage inflicted on enemy ship
• Arrow Volleys – This will increase damage
• Crew Armor – Will reduce brace damage

ANCIENT TABLET LOCATIONS

There are 44 of these but the thing, though, is that you need to unlock upgrade and customization options for your ship, and there are two ways to find them.

• Buy them from Blacksmiths. Not all Blacksmiths have them, however it is best to check with each one to see if they do
• Find them on several locations. You can find them in sanctuaries, ruins etc

The image below walks you through the locations you can find Ancient Tablets at. Thanks to Powerpyx.

In addition to the main quest, hunting for gear, trying to track down collectibles, farm materials, ad maintain your ship, there’s a few other things going on in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. These include Mercenaries, which add a Shadow of Mordor style twist to the game and the Conquest mode. So, uh… let’s dig into these, shall we?

MERCENARIES

Mercenaries are procedurally generated named unique characters in the game. These are all over the map, and most of them are not hostile. Generally, they’re doing what you are doing: fighting the War, and carrying out Bounties.

That said, those Bounties can also be placed on you- commit crimes against Civilians, for example, and you raise your “Wanted Level”, which causes Mercenaries to track you from your last known location. The higher your level, the more Mercenaries look for you (up to four at a time). Facing these Mercs in battle is a right pain in the hindside, because they can be very tough to take down. If you try to escape them by taking to your ship, they can follow you there, and be every bit as annoying in naval combat as they are on land.

The easiest thing to do is to simply pay off the Bounty placed on your head by going to the map. You can also try to find and kill the person who placed the Bounty on your head, or just try and avoid them and wait for the Bounty meter to subside, at which point they give up.

But if you can’t, or don’t want to, and/or want to fight the Mercenaries tracking you, below is a list of every possible Weakness and Strength a Mercenary can have. You won’t know which ones apply to your Mercenary until they get close to you, or until you take out another Mercenary that knows the stats of the Mercenary tracking you. Once you know their strengths and weaknesses, you know what to look for.

A Merc can have any of the following strengths and weaknesses in any combination: a strength ad a weakness, two weaknesses, and two strengths:

Weaknesses

• Death from Above – Ranged Attack Damage Increased
• Heart Condition – Assassination Damage Increased
• Soft Flesh – Melee Attack Damage Increased
• Pyrophobia – Fire Damage Increased
• Afflicted – Poison Damage Increased

Strengths

• Brawler – Melee Attack Damage Decreased
• Relentless – Won’t  flinch
• Plains Traveler – Has a lion as a companion
• Fireproof – Fire Damage Decreased
• Rage – Enters a heightened state of rage when HP is critically low
• Night Hunter – Is accompanied by a wolf
• Fangs Chewer – Has lynx as a companion
• Awareness – Assassination Damage Decreased
• Shell Skin – Ranged Attack Damage Decreased
• Pyromania – Will use Fire Attacks
• Mithridatism – Poison damage decreased

CONQUEST

Conquest is a new activity in Odyssey that basically lets you participate in the ongoing Peloponnesian War. Since you’re a Mercenary, you don’t have a side in the war between Athens and Sparta- which is what makes things so fun.

• So, first off- different parts of the map are in control of either Athens or Sparta. You can hover the cursor over a region to see who controls it, as well as its Nation Power. Nation Power is basically the “HP” for that region- by whittling it down, you can take over that region.
• You can have Nation Power lowered by killing the soldiers belonging to the faction that controls the area, looting Nation Chests, burning War Supplies, or killing the faction leader for that area. If the region is a fortified region, the leader, who is already difficult to take down, will be guarded heavily. Usually, it’s best to lower the Nation Power of a region low enough to where it’s not fortified before attempting to take down the Leader.
• Once you lower the Nation Power enough, you can participate in a Conquest Battle. You can either side with the defendants (i.e. the ones you’ve been working to overthrow all this time)- this gives you low rewards, but is an easier battle to win; or on the attacking side, which gives you high rewards, but is a far harder battle
• In battle, focus only on the captains when they are marked. When they are not, take out weaker enemies until they are. Mercenaries may attack you if you are on the invading side during battle too- try to dispatch them quickly (to make your life easier, clear your Bounties before starting a Conquest battle)
• The Blue Bar in battle represents the Nation you have sided with, while the Red represents the one you are fighting. Get the Red Bar to zero without letting the Blue Bar down, and you’ll win

Some people like cheats in their games. Beats me why, but hey, they do. Others just want to know how to quickly farm money and currency, and game the game’s various economies. Please use the following cheats at your own discretion. Using cheats online or offline may lead to an immediate ban. GamingBolt or its staff members are not responsible for any problems arising due to their use.

There’s a cheat table you can download from here (http://fearlessrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?t=8001) for the PC version of the game, but there are some caveats to keep in mind:

• As stated, this is only for the PC version of the game
• It is based on the Uplay version of the game, but it will probably work just fine for Steam
• You do this at your own risk- something like this could seriously mess up your save. It’s best to make a backup before proceeding

Use this cheat table you will be able to do the following:

• Unlimited Oxygen
• Infinite Adrenaline
• Infinite Arrors
• Infinite Ship Health
• Infinite Health
• Ignore Drachmae/Resources

FARMING GUIDE FOR MATERIALS AND ORICHALCUM ORE FRAGMENTS

• Precious Gems: Dismantle Epic Gear or above, or complete Bounties and kill Mercenaries
• Soft Leather: Kill wildlife. You can get it from taking down ships too, but the quantities are too small for that to be meaningful
• Obsidian Glass: Found in Forts and Nation Chests
• Olive Wood: Sink ships, AND found during exploration (as bushes), AND found by dismantling weapons and bows
• Iron Metal: Dismantle gear (any), AND take down enemy ships, AND explore caves
• Orichalcum Ore Fragments: Explore the world (mostly try to go out of the way), AND do Mercenary Works missions (found on Message Boards across Greece)

Because Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is now a full fledged RPG, there’s a whole lot of loot for you to hunt down and find in the form of weapons and armor. That’s not all, either- there’s also customization for your existing gear in the form of Engravings. There’s so much going on that it can actually be enough to make your head spin. That’s why we’re here to help you out with getting a handle on this whole thing.

LEGENDARY WEAPONS

Legendary Bows

• Artemis Bow (Required Level 14, 278 DPS): Gain upon killing Legendary Creature in sidequest The Daughter of Artemis
• Herakles Bow (Required Level 44, 1965 DPS): Found in Koinyra Fortress on Thasos Island (north east of the map)
• Fanged Bow (Required Level 34, 1183 DPS): Found in any cave with an Epic Chest
• Achilles Bow (Required Level 21, 533 DPS): Random drop (Mercenary)
• Eros Bow (Required Level 35, 1243 DPS): Found in Andania Mine in Messenia

Heavy Bladed

• Minotaur Labrys (Required Level 40, 1785 DPS): Sure enough, you get this by killing the Minotaur
• Polyphemos Cyclops Bludgeon (Required Level 37, 1567 DPS): In the Cave of the Forgotten Isle, defeat the Cyclops

Daggers

• Dagger of Kronus (Required Level 33, 1294 DPS): Defeat Nyx the Shadow
• Arachnes Stingers (Required Level 34, 1498 DPS): Random loot drop (Mercenary)

Spears

• Achilles Spear (Required Level 31, 1164 DPS): Find in Olynthos Fortress in Makedonia
• Falx Of Olympos (Required Level 27, 926 DPS): Find in Palace of Amphitrite

Swords

• Pandora’s Kopis (Required Level 25, 817 DPS): Slay the Nemean Lion
• Nikolaos Sword (Required Level 20, 564 DPS): You get this automatically as you play through the story
• Xiphos Of Peleus (Required Level 28, 983 DPS): Find in Artemisia Fort
• Prometheus Sika (Required Level 26, 871 DPS): Random drop (Mercenary)

LEGENDARY ARMOR

There are 12 Legendary Armor sets in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, with 5 pieces of Armor per set. Wearing a complete set at a time can grant you bonus abilities and perks:

• Greek Hero Armor Set
• Pirate Set
• Immortal Set
• Arena Fighter Armor Set
• Pilgrim Armor Set
• Snake Set
• Achilles Set
• Spartan War Hero Set
• Artemis Armor Set
• Agamemnon Set
• Athenian War Hero Set
• Artemis Armor Set

The video below shows you how to find all the armor for these sets:

ENGRAVINGS

Engravings are like decorations that you apply to your gear, to give them better stats and enhanced properties. You can simply “buy” them from blacksmiths, but those ones aren’t that good. You need to find the Rare Engravings for yourself.

Below is a list of some of the Engravings you can apply. You need to solve specific challenges to be able to find and apply them.

• Poison Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bow, Torso, Waist): Reach Level 8/Reach Level 18
• Warrior Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Head, Torso, Waist, Legs): Reach Level 4/Reach Level 14/Reach Level 24
• All Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Head, Torso, Waist, Legs): Kill 1 Leader/Kill 10 Leaders
• Assassin Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Head, Torso, Waist, Legs): Reach Level 3/Reach Level 13/Reach Level 23
• Hunter Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Head, Torso, Waist, Legs): Reach Level 2/Level 12/Level 22
• Overpower Abilities Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Arms, Waist): Complete Ainigmata Ostraka
• Crit Damage: (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Head, Torso, Arms): Reach Level 11/Level 21
• Damage on Spartan Soldiers (Applies to Melee Weapons, Head, Legs):  Kill 10 Spartan Strategoi
• Damage on Athenian Soldiers (Applies to Melee Weapons, Head, Legs): Kill 10 Athenian Marksman
• Crit Chance (Applies to Bows, Arms, Waist): Reach Level 10/Level 20
• Damage With Bow Charged Shot (Applies to Bows, Torso, Legs): Kill 25 Archers
• Adrenaline Per Hit (Applies to Melee Weapons, Arms, Waist): Complete the Ainigmata Ostraka: Ashes to Ashes
• Fire Damage (Applies to Melee Weapons, Bows, Legs): Reach Level 7/17/27
• Bow Charging Speed (Applies to Bow, Torso, Legs): Kill 3 Enemies in 30 Seconds with a Bow 10 Times
• Damage With Bows on Distant Targets (Applies to Bows, Head, Waist): Kill 25 distant enemies with a bow
• Health (Applies to Arms, Torso, Waist): Reach Level 5/15/25
• Total Armor (Applies to Arms, Torso, Waist): Reach Level 6/16/26
• Headshot Damage (Applies to Bows, Waist): Reach Level 9/19

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The new entry in the series builds directly upon last year’s Origins by further continuing the franchise’s transition towards becoming a full fledged open world RPG. There’s a lot of systems and mechanics in place in this game- hitbox based combat, parkour, gear, dialog choices, choices and consequences, leveling and XP, quests, and more. We’re here to help make your life a bit easier with this guide.

LEVELING QUICKER AND GAINING XP

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is pretty strict about its levels- be even slightly underleveled and your life will be miserable. Additionally, actually leveling up can take a while, since payouts are largely restricted to quests and objectives. That said, there are still ways to level up quicker in the game:

• Explore the map. You get XP for finding new places, so just… go around the map. Fast Travel can be alluring, especially given the size of the mp, but the XP gains from exploring make actually trudging through Ancient Greece worth it
• Check XP rewards on available quests. Your quest rewards are colored- Gold is the highest tier, then purple, then blue. I recommend trying to take on the Purple quests you have- you’re too underleveled for the Gold ones, but the Purple ones should be within reach, and net you a lot of XP in one go
• Don’t ignore side quests. You already shouldn’t be doing this, since a lot of them are well written, but they can give you valuable XP- don’t ignore them!
• Complete objectives. This includes Forts and the like- as mentioned previously, these get you XP.

Plus, the video below has a bit more to say on this topic:

SKILL TREES

Baseline Abilities

• Meditation – Lets you change the time of day.
• Summon Phobos – The ability to summon Phobos, and to auto mount him while you are moving
• Eyes of Ikaros – Your Eagle Vision ability that helps you locate and mark targets.
  • Upgrade – Ikaros can identify enemy paths, and harass enemies during combat
• Leap of Faith – Fall damage is reduced
  • Upgrade – Falling damage is nullified
• Assassination – Assassination damage either results in an OHKO, or at least in severe damage to the target
• Man at Arms– Lets you equip a second weapon, and quick swap to it
• Whistle – Use to attract the attention of nearby enemies
• Knockout and Recruiting – Recruit knocked out enemies to join the crew of the Adrestia.
• Defensive Maneuvers – Parry, dodge, or roll out of danger of an incoming attack. Perfectly timed dodges briefly slow time, and lets you attack an opening with a flurry of blows

Assassin Abilities

• Hero Strike – Inflicts 60% Assassin damage.
• Slow Time – Slows time down for about 5 seconds
• Shadow of Nyx – Lets you become invisible as long as you stand still. Consumes adrenaline.
• Critical Assassination – Launch a stealth attack with 150% Assassin damage as long as you are not in conflict, and in range
• Stealth Master – Movement and Assassination noise reduced
• Rush Assassination – Ranged attack that deals 100% Assassin damage up close.
  • Upgrade – Deals 110% Assassin damage up close.
• Revelation –Reveals all secrets, including chests and hidden passages, as well as tag all enemies, in a radius of 15 metres
  • Upgrade – Radius increased to 20 meters
• Call to Arms – Lets you summon a Lieutenant who distracts enemies for up to 20 seconds
• Poison Mastery – Poison resistance up by 10%
• Vanish – Stun targets for up to 6 seconds. Attacking them breaks their paralysis
• Shadow Assassin – Assassination and Knock Out damage increased by 15%
  • Upgrade – Assassination and Knock Out damage are increased by 15%. CRIT damage is increased by 25%
• Venomous Attacks – Melee weapons and Normal Arrows inflict Poison damage for 15 seconds.

Warrior Abilities

• Spartan Kick – This. Is. Sparta! Knocks a target back and deals 190% Warrior damage. You can recruit the target afterwards
  • Upgrade – Upgrade to 200% Warrior damage. Generates a shockwave that hits multiple nearby enemies
• Charged Heavy Attack – Deals 100% Warrior damage, knocks back, and breaks guard
  • Upgrade – Upgraded to 150% Warrior damage
• Second Wind – Refills 25% of Max Health
  • Upgrade – Refills 35% of max Health
• Bull Rush – Run through enemies, knocking them back and dealing 180% Warrior damage
• Weapons Master – Permanently increases Warrior Damage by 10%
• Shield Breaker – Break all shields, Stun the target, and deal 160% Warrior damage
  • Upgrade – Upgraded to 180% Warrior damage, plus the shield explodes into shrapnel that damages nearby enemies
• Ring of Chaos – A shockwave deals 110% damage and Stuns enemies in a 3 meter radius
• Flaming Attacks – Melee weapons and Normal Arrows inflict Fire damage for 15 seconds.
• Overpower Attacks – Powerful attacks, vary based on what weapon you are using
• Gear Master – Armor increased by 10%
• Fire Mastery –  Fire buildup increased by 10%

Hunter Abilities

• Sixth Sense – Time slows down for 5 seconds when you are seen by enemies. During this time, aimed arrows lock on to the target’s torso and deal 150% Hunter damage
• Multi Shot – Target up to 4 enemies at the same time and deal 150% Hunter damage to each
• Devastating shot – Let loose an arrow to deal 150% Hunter damage. Effectiveness of Fire and Poison Arrows increases by 150%
• Rain of Destruction – Rain down multiple arrows in a radius of 3 meters, dealing 250% Hunter damage
• Arrow Master – Create Paralysis Arrows that knock out enemies instead of killing them
• Beast Master – Tame wolves
• Archery Master – Increase Hunter damage by 15%. Normal Arrows aren’t consumed when using Hunter abilities
• Ghost Arrows of Artemis – An arrow that can pass through everything and deals175% Hunter damage
• Overpower Bow Strike – A powerful, charged arrow that deals 800% Hunter damage and explodes on impact
  • Upgrade – Hunter damage increased by 20% and Headshot damage by 25%.
• Predator Shot – Zoom in to shoot an arrow that deals 230% Hunter damage and has 25% more range
• Spread Shot – Shoot 3 arrows at the same time that each deal 100% Hunter damage
  • Upgrade – Shoot 5 arrows at the same time that each deal 100% Hunter damage