New Player Help for Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) covers various information that will help a player understand the basics of the game's mechanics as well as recommended things to do before starting the game. The page features information such as tips and tricks, basic and advanced mechanics, and things you should know before starting the game.
Ghost of Tsushima New Player Help
Fast Travel
Let's start off by mentioning that there is a Fast Travel option in the game. In order to Fast Travel to a location, you must discover and unlock the location first. Fast Travelling is not restricted to settlements or towns, but also Fox Dens (Inari Shrines) and Shinto Shrines. In order to use Fast Travel, press the Options button on the controller to open the map, choose your destination, and then press the △ button to fast travel to that area.
Complete Tales of Tsushima!
Tales of Tsushima are categorized as side quests of the game. Although it may be optional, it is worth checking and completing. Why? Not only does it advance certain plots of the story, but completing a Mythic Tale rewards Jin with points to rank up Jin's legend, unlock gear, and learn techniques. Take it as an opportunity as well to train your gameplay as a samurai or a stealthy ghost-assassin. Tales of Tsushima are marked with a white icon on the map.
Find Mythic Tales
Mythic Tales is an extension of the side quests of the game. Tales of Tsushima focuses on competing tasks for NPCs, while Mythic Tales are more on the supernatural aspect revolving around the island and uncovering the secret behind a legendary tale. You can discover the location of a musician who tells the story of a mythic tale through exploration, but it is recommended that you speak to the townspeople of settlements, especially those who are at the Golden Temple. They'll provide you with rumors which indicate the location of the musician. Mythic TAles are marked with a blue icon on the map.
Talk to the Peasants
Yes, the environment of this game is splendid and you just want to explore the island and sometimes, you'd rather just focus on completing quests that you encounter along the way or that appear on the map. There are many secrets here in the game. From finding Lighthouses, Hot Springs, Haiku, Inari Shrines, and many more! Exploration is nice but sometimes you just can't find something that you're trying to find in the game. The answer to that is to speak to the peasants or townspeople that you encounter throughout your journey. They're there for a reason, and it's not just to ask you for help or to save them, speak to them. Most of them hold information regarding the location of a secret location or spot. Once you've obtained that rumor, it will be automatically marked on your map to check.
The Island's Environment
Most of the time, you will be riding your horse and exploring the vast island of Tsushima. There are a couple of guides that we recommend you to follow when you encounter them. First, yellow birds. These birds appear flying near Jin, FOLLOW THEM. They can lead you to points of interest where you can find secrets or quests. Second, follow the fox. When you come across a Fox Den, you'll find a Fox. Follow the furry friend and it will lead you to an Inari Shrine. And third, are smokestacks. When you see a trail of smoke from afar, check it out, you may find NPCs who need help or find secrets. Also, when you encounter a Mongol patrol, fight them, or challenge one of the soldiers to a Standoff. Winning against a Mongol encounter grants points to increase Jin's legend. Mongol patrols are not marked on the map and are randomly encountered.
Upgrade Jin's Resolve
Resolve are these yellow nodes that can be found on top of Jin's health bar on the lower left side of the screen. Resolve is a consumable resource that can be used in two ways. The first is to recover Jin's health, and second, is to unleash powerful combat arts. Resolve can be replenished by successfully killing enemies, successfully parrying their attacks, and by winning a Standoff. Unlocking the Resolved Parry technique can help in recovering Resolve when you land a successful parry. Also, the number of Resolve that Jin can obtain can also be upgraded, which can be done by finding Bamboo Strikes. Bamboo Strikes require the player to chop through a stack of bamboo by pressing the corresponding buttons that appear on the screen.
Use the Combat Stances
As you progress through the game, Jin encounters various types of enemies from the Mongol forces. He'll be fighting against swordsmen, archers, spear-wielding enemies, brute type enemies, and more. Combat Stances allow Jin to change his style to easily defeat his enemies. For example, the Water Stance is effective against a Mongol soldier that wields a sword and a shield, the Water Stance changes Jin's movements to strike the enemy with light and fluid strikes that can penetrate and move through their defense while Moon Stance works against brute-type enemies. There are four different stances that can be unlocked, and in order to learn them, players must kill a certain number of Mongol leaders to obtain points used to learn a new stance.
Ghost Weapons
Jin heavily relies on the trusty ol' Sakai Katana. But eventually, he'll need other weapons to take down the Mongol forces. Ghost Weapons can be found under Ghost Techniques, this basically grants access to new weapons that are effective in various situations you encounter. For example, unlocking the Kunai technique will allow Jin to throw these small blades to damage and stagger enemies, or potentially kill them. The Smoke Bomb can blind enemies, allowing you to either reposition yourself or to assassinate them as you are hidden within the smoke. Ghost Weapons can be unlocked by spending Technique Points but you can unlock these without spending TP by increasing Jin's Legend Rank.
