17 Things I Wish I Knew Before Playing Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Ubisoft’s latest entry in the long-running franchise, is out now across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. And unlike recent games in the series, Mirage isn’t some giant 200-hour RPG. Instead, most players will be able to wrap up the main story and most side content in the game in under 25 hours.

However, while it might be a smaller adventure, it’s still a very good game that returns the series to its stealthy roots. And to help you all stab and sneak with the best of ‘em, here are some non-spoiler tips.

Buy Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop | Ubisoft

Don’t worry about getting caught up on Assassin’s Creed lore

Usually, before leaping into a new Assassin’s Creed game, I’d recommend catching up on the lore of the franchise.

Thankfully, this time around, you can avoid that. With the exception of the intro cutscene and finale, the game is a mostly standalone adventure that explains what’s happening as you need to know, letting anyone enjoy this latest installment.

Use your eagle

After you finish the short introduction sequence and become an assassin, you’ll be given an eagle. Use it! Yes, the game teaches you how to use your trusty eagle sidekick early on, but don’t forget he’s always there, ready to help you spot enemies, mark locations, find useful items, track down objectives, and locate alternate routes.

Make a habit of using the eagle while playing Mirage and you’ll rarely get lost or surprised by the enemy.

And also, use Eagle Vision

Speaking of eagles, Basim—like most other main characters in Assassin’s Creed—has the ability to activate Eagle Vision. This is basically the game’s Arkham-like detective mode and will help you spot enemies, find breaking objects, and locate important items to complete quests.

Search for sync points and activate them

If you’ve played an Assassin’s Creed game, you probably already know this tip. But take some time, especially early on, to visit the various sync points around the map, all of which are marked by an eagle icon. Syncing with these points will let you fast travel to them later and that can save you a lot of time in the future.

Scout ahead, look for alternate entrances

90% of the time in Assassin’s Creed Mirage you can find a sneaky way into an enemy base or camp that avoids guards or any direct conflict. Sometimes you can even get mercenaries or nearby people to help you sneak in somewhere. Other times you might need to pickpocket a guard’s key to access a back door, letting you slide in undetected.

The point is: Look around before rushing into most places to avoid getting killed by a dozen angry guards.

Avoid combat, use stealth

Unlike recent Assassin’s Creed games, like Valhalla or Origins, you can’t easily fight your way out of bad situations. Eventually, after upgrading your gear and mastering combat, you can probably survive most fights. But open combat against multiple enemies should be a last resort.

Instead, use stealth tactics. You are an assassin, after all, and Mirage supports this style of play better than recent entries in the series.

Stab people while hidden to stay hidden

Basim can run up to guards and shank them in the middle of a street, but try to avoid that kind of thing. Instead, remember that when you are hidden in a haystack, pile of leaves, tent, or other hiding spot, you can assassinate people and not get spotted.

Another bonus of stabbing from the shadows is that Basim will often automatically drag the body into the hiding spot, thus covering your sins.

Lure guards with a whistle

You have a whistle button in Mirage and while it’s useful to call your mount, it’s also a key stealth tool. Whistling will alert guards and send one over to check out what’s going on. And if you are hidden, as previously mentioned, you can kill that curious bad guy without alerting his friends.

And then whistle again and lure another unfortunate guard to his death. As long as you don’t spam the whistle and freak out guards, you can keep bringing them over to kill. A powerful tool in your assassin’s toolbox!

Rush and stab if you get spotted

If all your stealth and sneaking fail you, don’t give up and start openly fighting. Instead, rush the person who spotted you and mash the assassination button. (RB on Xbox) There’s a very good chance you can still take them down before they alert others, letting you avoid a full-on brawl.

Unlock the smoke bomb tool first

When you start leveling up and progressing through Mirage’s campaign, you’ll begin to unlock tools that can help you sneak around or kill baddies more effectively. While all the tools are useful, I recommend getting the smoke bomb first. You can use it to quickly escape if you get spotted or surrounded as it stuns everyone caught in the blast for a short period of time.

Even better, you can use it to stun big, armored guards and assassinate them with one stab, saving you a lot of trouble.

Use your last known location to escape guards

If guards spot you and you can’t smoke or kill your way out of the situation, you’ll have to run. Keep an eye on your “last known position,” marked by a golden outline of your character where guards last saw you. If this pops up, guards have lost you and you should try to hide somewhere to lose the heat.

Tear down wanted posters to lower notoriety

Even after you escape angry guards, you might still have some “notoriety.” This status is tracked via the meter in the right-hand corner of the HUD. The more notoriety Basim has, the more guards will hunt for you even when you are just walking around doing nothing. Even random NPCs will spot you and make a fuss.

To avoid all this hassle, take time to yank down wanted posters that go up as you earn notoriety. You can also talk to town criers to remove all that unwanted attention, too.

Complete contracts!

You get skill points, XP, resources for upgrading gear, and useful tokens that can be used to bribe people during missions or open special chests. Plus, some of these missions are just a lot of fun and feature their own mini-narratives.

Pop open Eagle Vision when you encounter a locked door or chest

If you are exploring somewhere and discover a locked chest or door, don’t go blindly looking for a key. Instead, pop open Eagle Vision near the locked item and look around for a key which should now be marked and nearby.

Upgrade your weapons and outfits frequently

It’s easy to forget, but as you earn crafting items, you can upgrade your gear. And you should do this! However, you don’t upgrade gear at your assassin’s HQ or in the game’s menus. Instead, look for blacksmiths and tailors who can upgrade your equipment.

Oh, and sell all your trinkets, too

As you pickpocket and loot chests, you’ll gather trinkets. These items are only useful for selling. So…sell that stuff! This can be done at merchants while refilling your tools. (Which you should also be doing often so you have plenty of smoke bombs.)

And don’t worry: You can keep playing after you finish the main story

Don’t put off the main story to do everything else. Mirage lets you keep playing after you wrap up the big finale, allowing you to collect and finish everything at your own pace after the credits roll.

Buy Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop | Ubisoft

Source: kotaku