Ubisoft Quebec released Assassin's Creed Odyssey on 5 October 2018, dropping the series into 431 BCE and the Peloponnesian War. You choose Alexios or Kassandra, a Spartan mercenary carrying the broken spear of Leonidas, and later patches pushed the level cap to 99. Forty two members of the Cult of Kosmos have to be unmasked before the Ghost of Kosmos will meet you face to face.
Starting Assassin's Creed Odyssey can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a rpg game built around Three ability trees and Adrenaline fuelled abilities. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Warrior | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Assassin | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Hybrid mercenary | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Naval captain | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Warrior. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Naval captain as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Three ability trees
Forty four skills sit across the Hunter, Warrior and Assassin trees, and you can slot them freely rather than being locked into one. Skill points come from levelling, from ancient steles scattered around Greece, and from objectives in the Fate of Atlantis expansion.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Three ability trees works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Kephallonia
The starting island where you work for Markos, learn the systems and recover the Spear of Leonidas. It is small and low stakes by design, and the Cyclops questline is the closest it gets to a challenge.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Daggers: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The fastest weapons in the game and the natural pairing with an Assassin build, since assassination damage multiplies with speed and critical rate. Reach is poor, so open fights punish them.
Step 4: Understand Adrenaline fuelled abilities
Abilities burn adrenaline segments that fill as you fight, so damage output is a resource you generate rather than a cooldown you wait out. Overpower attacks spend the whole bar at once for a scripted heavy hit.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Megaris
The first mainland region and the first place the war is visible, with Spartan and Athenian forces actively fighting over it. It introduces the Nation Power gauge and Conquest Battles properly.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Three ability trees
Forty four skills sit across the Hunter, Warrior and Assassin trees, and you can slot them freely rather than being locked into one. Skill points come from levelling, from ancient steles scattered around Greece, and from objectives in the Fate of Atlantis expansion.
Adrenaline fuelled abilities
Abilities burn adrenaline segments that fill as you fight, so damage output is a resource you generate rather than a cooldown you wait out. Overpower attacks spend the whole bar at once for a scripted heavy hit.
Engravings on gear
Engravings are permanent stat perks applied at a blacksmith, unlocked by dismantling legendary equipment, solving Ainigmata Ostraka tablets and clearing mercenary tiers. They are how a low level favourite weapon stays useful at level 99.
Mercenary tiers and bounties
Nine tiers of rival mercenaries hunt you when your bounty rises, and you climb from tier 9 toward tier 1 by killing them. Completing a tier by defeating at least five mercenaries grants permanent perks.
Conquest battles and naval warfare
Every region has a Nation Power gauge that you drain by burning war supplies, looting treasury and killing the leader, which opens a Conquest Battle. At sea the Adrestia fights with arrows, javelins and ramming, and hull upgrades add lieutenant slots up to a maximum of four.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Spreading engravings across all three trees
A build that boosts everything equally kills nothing quickly, especially past level 50.
2. Selling legendary gear
Dismantling it unlocks engravings permanently, while selling gives you drachmae you probably do not need.
3. Killing every ship captain
Each one killed is a lieutenant the Adrestia will never have, and lieutenants matter more than any single naval upgrade.
4. Ignoring the mercenary system until the bounty is severe
Several tier 1 and tier 2 mercenaries arriving at once during a fort assault will end a mid level character.
5. Rushing the main story past regions
Odyssey is level gated in practice, and skipping side content leaves you underlevelled for Lakonia and the late cultist hunts.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Three ability trees and Adrenaline fuelled abilities
- Choose Warrior as starting build
- Clear Kephallonia main content
- Acquire Daggers or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Megaris
- Dismantle legendary gear you will never wear instead of selling it. Dismantling is a main source of engravings, and an engraving unlocked once can be applied to any future weapon at a blacksmith.
- Pick one damage type and stack it everywhere. Spreading engravings across Assassin, Warrior and Hunter damage produces a character that is mediocre in all three, while stacking one tree turns level appropriate enemies into single hit kills.
Tips for New Players
- Dismantle legendary gear you will never wear instead of selling it. Dismantling is a main source of engravings, and an engraving unlocked once can be applied to any future weapon at a blacksmith.
- Pick one damage type and stack it everywhere. Spreading engravings across Assassin, Warrior and Hunter damage produces a character that is mediocre in all three, while stacking one tree turns level appropriate enemies into single hit kills.
- Knock ship captains unconscious rather than killing them. An unconscious captain can be recruited as a lieutenant for the Adrestia, and hull upgrades eventually let you carry four of them at once.
- Visit every ancient stele you pass. Each one hands over a skill point without any combat, which adds up to a meaningful number of extra abilities across a 27 region map.
- Clear your bounty before starting a hard quest. Mercenaries from all nine tiers hunt you while the bounty is up, and having a tier 3 rival wander into a stealth infiltration ruins the run.
- Solve Ainigmata Ostraka tablets as you find them. Each one leads to a location that hands over an engraving, and the riddles get harder to backtrack to once you have left the region.
- Drain Nation Power before a Conquest Battle rather than joining one cold. Burning war supplies, looting the treasury and killing the leader all weaken the defending side, so the battle itself becomes far shorter.
- Turn off level scaling only if you enjoy walking over content. The option exists in the settings, and with it disabled a level 60 character trivialises regions the story intends you to reach at level 20.
- Save the Cult of Kosmos leader for last on purpose. Forty one cultists have to fall before the Ghost of Kosmos is revealed, and each kill also hands over an artifact fragment that upgrades the Spear of Leonidas.
- Start New Game Plus only after the level 99 patch content. Patch 1.14 added New Game Plus alongside the raised cap and extra ship upgrades, so a fresh run carries a genuinely different character rather than a repeat.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cultists are in the Cult of Kosmos?
Forty two. Kill the other 41 and the Ghost of Kosmos is unmasked as Aspasia, with the final confrontation taking place beneath the temple in Phokis. Every cultist also drops an artifact fragment for the Spear of Leonidas.
What is the level cap?
Ninety nine, raised by patch 1.14, which also added New Game Plus and further ship upgrades. The game shipped with a much lower cap and grew it across post launch patches.
Alexios or Kassandra?
Mechanically identical, with the same skills, gear and quests. Kassandra is the canonical choice in the wider fiction, but the choice changes voice acting and a handful of scenes rather than gameplay.
Which legendary armour set is best?
It depends on the tree you stack. Pilgrim cuts Shadow of Nyx adrenaline cost by 40 percent for assassins, Spartan War Hero adds 15 percent Warrior ability damage, Athenian War Hero makes arrows pierce shields, and Demigod adds 10 percent damage to all abilities for hybrids.
How do mercenary tiers work?
There are nine tiers and you start at the bottom. Defeating at least five mercenaries completes a tier and grants a permanent perk, while a high bounty sends several of them after you at once.
More Assassin's Creed Odyssey Guides
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Assassin's Creed Odyssey Overview
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Best Builds
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Tier List
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Walkthrough
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Tips & Tricks
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Weapons Guide
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Combat Guide
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Boss Guide
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Maps & Locations
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Crafting Guide
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey Classes & Characters
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