Ubisoft Montreal shipped Assassin's Creed Origins on 27 October 2017 and rebuilt the series around hitboxes, weapon classes and a level cap of 40. You play Bayek of Siwa, the last Medjay, hunting the masked Order of the Ancients across Ptolemaic Egypt in 49 BCE while Senu the eagle scouts targets from above. Four separate bow classes, Hunter, Predator, Light and Warrior, each behave like a different weapon; Odyssey collapsed all of that into one bow a year later, which makes Origins the only entry where the bow you pick changes the fight.
Starting Assassin's Creed Origins 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 Origins is a rpg game built around Four bow classes and Senu eagle scouting. 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 |
| Seer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Stealth Medjay | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Bow Sniper | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Warrior. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Bow Sniper 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 Four bow classes
Hunter bows fire one heavy aimed shot, Predator bows let you steer a single arrow at sniping distance, Light bows empty five arrows in a fast burst from the hip, and Warrior bows throw five arrows at once in a shotgun spread. They are genuinely different weapons rather than stat variants, and most players end up carrying a Predator bow plus one of the close range pair.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Four bow classes works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Siwa
The prologue oasis and Bayek's home, where the hunt for the Order of the Ancients begins at the Temple of Amun. It is deliberately small and low pressure, and it teaches Senu, tombs and the hidden blade before the map opens.
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 Predator Bow: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The sniper of the four classes. Holding aim slows time and lets you steer the arrow in flight, which means kills at distances where the target never registers a threat at all.
Step 4: Understand Senu eagle scouting
Senu launches at any time and tags guards, captains, treasure chests, animals and quest objectives, which then stay marked when you drop back into Bayek. Levelling her extends her range, and the game is built on the assumption that you scout every fort from the air before entering.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Alexandria
The Greek capital, dense with rooftops, libraries and Ptolemaic soldiers, and the first place the Order feels organised. It is also where the papyrus puzzle treasure hunts start paying out properly.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Four bow classes
Hunter bows fire one heavy aimed shot, Predator bows let you steer a single arrow at sniping distance, Light bows empty five arrows in a fast burst from the hip, and Warrior bows throw five arrows at once in a shotgun spread. They are genuinely different weapons rather than stat variants, and most players end up carrying a Predator bow plus one of the close range pair.
Senu eagle scouting
Senu launches at any time and tags guards, captains, treasure chests, animals and quest objectives, which then stay marked when you drop back into Bayek. Levelling her extends her range, and the game is built on the assumption that you scout every fort from the air before entering.
Adrenaline and Overpower
Landing hits fills an adrenaline bar, and a full bar unlocks an Overpower attack that changes with the weapon class. Heavy Blunt flattens a group with a spin, Dual Swords deliver a fast multi hit, and Spears sweep at range, so the same bar does very different work depending on what is in Bayek's hand.
Hunter Warrior and Seer trees
Skill points feed three trees, Hunter in green, Warrior in red and Seer in blue. Chain Assassination, which lets one stealth kill flow into a thrown blade on a second guard, is the single biggest quality of life unlock, and Dawn and Dusk skips time forward so patrols thin out before an infiltration.
Phylakes bounty hunters
Ten Phylakes patrol Egypt as named elite hunters who track Bayek by region once his notoriety climbs. Each is locked to a fixed level, the lowest sitting around level 20 near Alexandria, and each drops legendary gear, so they double as the fastest route to good weapons if you can outlevel them.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Treating this like the older Assassin's Creed games, where guards died to any assassination
Origins gates hidden blade kills on level difference, so a target three levels above Bayek survives the strike.
2. Sticking with the starting bow for twenty hours instead of testing all four classes, which hides the fact that Predator and Warrior bows solve completely different problems
3. Spending every skill point in the Warrior tree first, when Chain Assassination and Dawn and Dusk save far more time across a full playthrough
4. Selling gear for drachmas rather than dismantling it, then running out of the leather and bronze needed for the next Hidden Blade and Breastplate upgrade
5. Charging into Phylakes on sight, since they are level locked and often ten levels above you, and they hit hard enough to end a run of side quests instantly
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Four bow classes and Senu eagle scouting
- Choose Warrior as starting build
- Clear Siwa main content
- Acquire Predator Bow or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Alexandria
- Senu is not optional. Launching her before every fort marks guards, captains, chests and objectives, and those marks persist after she lands, which turns an assault into a plan rather than a scramble.
- Keep two bows equipped from different classes. A Predator bow for the opening kills and a Warrior bow for the moment a guard closes to melee covers roughly every situation the game creates.
Tips for New Players
- Senu is not optional. Launching her before every fort marks guards, captains, chests and objectives, and those marks persist after she lands, which turns an assault into a plan rather than a scramble.
- Keep two bows equipped from different classes. A Predator bow for the opening kills and a Warrior bow for the moment a guard closes to melee covers roughly every situation the game creates.
- Level matters more than skill in Origins. A level 25 soldier will survive several clean hits from a level 20 Bayek, so if a region feels wrong, check the number under its name on the map and go elsewhere first.
- Dawn and Dusk from the Seer tree is worth an early skill point purely for stealth. Most camps put half their guards to bed at night, which halves the number of patrol routes you need to defeat.
- Reda at the Nomad's Bazaar posts daily bounties that pay in gear above your current level. Doing his quests for a few in game days is faster than farming chests for the same power increase.
- Dismantle rather than sell duplicate weapons. Bronze, iron, soft leather and hard leather from dismantling feed the blacksmith upgrades that actually raise Bayek's damage, and money is easier to find than materials.
- Animal hides come from specific species. Crocodile and hippo hides upgrade the highest tiers of the Hidden Blade and Breastplate, so plan a hunting trip along the Nile rather than hoping they drop in the desert.
- Sleep darts turn Phylakes into free kills. Put the Phylake down with darts, walk up, and land a fully charged heavy or an assassination for a chunk of damage no fair fight would give you.
- Fire is the strongest tool in the game for its cost. Shooting one oil jar inside a barracks kills several soldiers at once and does not scale with Bayek's level the way arrows do.
- The twelve Stone Circles across Egypt open the Sphinx once all of them are aligned. It is one of the few collectible chains worth completing, since it leads into an Isu chamber the story never mentions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Origins different from Assassin's Creed Odyssey?
Origins caps at level 40 rather than 99, keeps a single fixed protagonist in Bayek, and splits ranged combat into four distinct bow classes that Odyssey merged into one bow. Odyssey added dialogue choices, ship combat and the mercenary system, none of which are in Origins.
Which bow should I use in Assassin's Creed Origins?
Carry two. A Predator bow handles everything at distance because it slows time and lets you guide the arrow, and a Warrior bow covers close range since all five of its arrows land on one target at point blank.
What level should I be for the Green Mountains?
Around 36 to 40. Green Mountains and Cyrene sit at the top of the base game's progression, so most players arrive there after finishing Memphis and the Nile delta regions.
How many Phylakes are there and are they worth hunting?
There are ten, each locked to a fixed level and each dropping legendary gear. They are worth hunting once you outlevel them, and sleep darts followed by a charged heavy attack removes most of the risk.
Do I need the DLC to reach the level cap?
No. The base game caps at 40 and the main story gets you there. The Hidden Ones raises the cap for the Sinai content, and The Curse of the Pharaohs raises it again for Thebes, so both are post story additions rather than requirements.
More Assassin's Creed Origins Guides
- Assassin's Creed Origins Assassin's Creed Origins Overview
- Assassin's Creed Origins Best Builds
- Assassin's Creed Origins Tier List
- Assassin's Creed Origins Walkthrough
- Assassin's Creed Origins Tips & Tricks
- Assassin's Creed Origins Weapons Guide
- Assassin's Creed Origins Combat Guide
- Assassin's Creed Origins Boss Guide
- Assassin's Creed Origins Maps & Locations
- Assassin's Creed Origins Crafting Guide
- Assassin's Creed Origins Classes & Characters
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