Assassin's Creed Series, Where Parkour Meets Murderhobos Options

[SubRosa]

So I started playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey a few nights ago. It has been a love/hate relationship. For starters the beginning of this game is insanely difficult, even on Easy. Once past the sort of tutorial with King Leonidas, the game gave me two thugs to kill. That was no problem. So I thought ok, I can do this.

Then I was out walking admiring the scenery and a wolf attacked me. Ok, no big deal. Pretty much RPG 101 is fighting either rats, or wolves. The next thing I knew I was dead. The wolf hit me once, and I lost 90% of my health. I hit it about 4-5 times, which took it down to about 60% of its health. Then it hit me again, and it was over. I reloaded, thinking maybe it was a fluke. It was not. I tried it about 6 times, and died in two hits every time.

*sigh*

So I went back to an older save, and avoided that area with that particular wolf. I killed some bandits, no sweat. A few hours later I almost paniced when I ran into several wolves. But I killed them all. So I figured, ok, this is getting better.

Then the game says a bounty hunter is after me, named Talos (maybe he was looking for his Stormcrown?). I ran into him shortly after, and it was the same story. He hits me twice and I am dead. I hit him a dozen times, and it barely moves his health bar. So I reloaded from an older save, and avoided him. Hours later I try attacking him again, and again, I die about a dozen times. Hours later I figured out that I was doing a lot more damage with a bow. So I tried that against him, and died about a dozen times. So reload to earlier again, and hours later tried for a fourth series of times. After about the 4th time I was able to kill him using just the bow. My guess is that he had about 30 - 40 times my health.

*sigh*

I have no idea if this is indicative of the entire game or not. What makes it more difficult is that there is no command console, and no mods aside from reshades and graphics tweaks. Ubisoft - the game company - is one of those rabid microtransaction lovers. They want you to spend tons of money in their game store to avoid grinding your toon. So they cut off any way of them losing money by making modding or using the console impossible.

Normally this would be a no-brainer for me. I would just delete the game and forget it. But the truth is the game world is just beautiful. I love just walking around and looking at things. I am also deeply impressed with the lengths they went to in order to accurately depict Ancient Greece. This is the real deal. Statues and temples are not pristine white edifices. They are painted in bright colors. People wear the right outfits, down to the wide brim hats. The homes, the lamps, the amphorae, it is all right.

So I am plodding along, hoping these weird lopsided combats are not common. I have had a lot of fights that worked out just fine. Others not so. The sharks in a sunken temple were another insanely frustrating experience. But enough about that.

Edit: After playing a few days, I can definitely say that the game gets a lot easier once you get past Talos, and reach 5th level or so. You can take on packs of enemies the same level as you and defeat them so long as you are paying attention and use some tactics, like keep moving so they cannot all gang up on you at once.

Greeking out

A view from up high (atop a statue of Zeus)

Let's go boating!

There are giants beneath the waves

Uh oh, found the edge of the Truman Show

[SubRosa]

Some notes on items in this game.

First off, Odyssey is a loot whore's paradise. You are constantly getting a stream of new weapons and armor pieces. Do not get attached to any one thing in particular, because you will probably find something better in a half hour or hour. At least until you get to level 50, which was the original level cap for the game. (That was later expanded to 99 with a patch. But I don't think the items go up beyond 50 Nope, I was in error. Items do continue to level up to 99).

This is because when you get an item its stats will usually be set to your current level. Once and a while you will find something above your level, which you cannot use until you meet the level of the item. But that is rare. So as you level up, you find new gear at higher levels, with better stats.

Gear is also broken up into four types Common (gray), Rare (blue), Epic (purple), and Legendary (gold). Generally the more rare the better their stats are. But again, you have to take into account the level you got it at. A Legendary sword you get at 1st level will suck compared to Common one you get at 5th level.

You can stick with the same set of gear by Upgrading it at a blacksmith. What this does is bring it up to your current level. But this gets really expensive, really fast. I waiting until I got to 50th level, then pulled out my Legendary stuff, and upgraded it. I have played about 5 or 6 hours since, and have yet to find anything better.

Legendary items also come in a set. If you wear all items in the set, you get a special bonus.

Speaking of blacksmiths, they are the only merchants in the game you can buy and sell from. As I just said, they buy and sell weapons and armor, as well as ordinary trade goods you can pick up - amphorae, animal fangs and claws, bowls, cups, food, etc... Just sell all that stuff. They also sell crafting supplies. I highly advise you to always check every blacksmith from ancient tablets. Those are hard to find in the wild, and you need them to upgrade your ship. Blacksmiths also do the aforementioned upgrades on items.

Finally they do engraving. These are little bonuses similar to enchantments that you can put on items. Stuff like more fire damage, moving faster in sneak mode, etc... The number of engravings you can have depends on the type of the item in question. The better type, the more engravings.

Engravings become available by finding Ainigmata Ostraka, which are also rare. They look like stone tables, and when you interact with one it will give you a little mini-riddle to go to a certain place. Basically it is an unofficial quest. When you find the goal it points you toward, you unlock an engraving. All engravings have levels, so the more duplicate ones you unlock, the more powerful the enchantment is that it grants. I like doing them just because they are fun.