Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the first entry in Ubisoft’s iconic franchise in three years, and it brings with it plenty of changes. Rather than the RPG style of the past three titles, Mirage returns to a focus on stealth reminiscent of the franchise’s early days. Though Mirage also has its own unique takes on the assassin fantasy to learn. Here are eight helpful tips and tricks to know as you get started on your adventure in 9th-century Baghdad.
8. Don’t Worry About Upgrading Gear
Those who have played the more RPG-like entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise will find a familiar gear system in Mirage, but you shouldn’t get caught up in it. With an emphasis on stealth and planning missions carefully over brute strength, Mirage puts less value on pure stat increases to make your way through challenging encounters.
While you can earn special outfits and weapons with a myriad of bonuses by accomplishing side quests, the negligible improvement isn’t worth your time unless you really want to see everything Mirage has to offer. If you do find yourself hitting a wall that you think better gear could fix, you should also consider just changing your difficulty settings to even the playing field.
7. Collect Favor Tokens
Baghdad is a city thriving with people from different walks of life. Among them are merchants, mercenaries, and musicians whom Basim can use to his advantage during missions. Mirage has a special currency called favor tokens, with three token types corresponding to the three types of special NPCs. By spending a favor token, new opportunities open up for the player. Mercenaries will attack enemies for you, merchants will offer lower prices, and musicians will distract guards.
There are two ways to collect favor tokens in Mirage: pickpocketing and contract missions. Make a habit of using Basim’s Eagle Vision every so often to scope out potential pickpocket targets and constantly collect tokens. Completing contract missions is a more time-consuming source of this currency, but it also lets players enjoy some of Mirage’s most inventive levels.
6. Only Unlock Tools You Will Use
Assassin bureaus across Baghdad give Basim the chance to unlock and upgrade six different tools. They are the torch, smoke bombs, noisemakers, blowdarts, throwing knives, and traps. Throwing knives and the torch are automatically available, but the other four tools take materials and currency to unlock. Instead of trying to unlock every tool as quickly as possible, focus on the tools that complement your playstyle.
5. Combat Is a Last Resort
While Basim is equipped with a sword to battle foes head-on, he is an assassin first and foremost. Like early games in the series, Mirage focuses heavily on stealth to accomplish missions. Unless absolutely necessary, you should avoid head-on combat at all times, as Basim can be outnumbered very quickly — which will not go well. Instead, carefully plan your route through restricted areas and always keep track of where enemies are.
Mirage gives players plenty of ways to get the upper hand with distractions, disguises, or by blending into the crowd. Try to think about every opportunity available to you before going into a situation sword first.
4. Enkidu Is Your Best Friend
One way to keep track of enemies and learn about hidden entrances is to get a literal bird's eye view. Another returning feature from the RPG entries in the franchise is the inclusion of a trusty feathered friend, who, in Mirage’s case, is named Enkidu and acts as recon for the player.
Before entering a mission zone, be sure to spend some time flying over the area as Enkidu to mark all the enemies and plan out your route. Just be ready for the occasional marksman to scare Enkidu off, and try to take them down early.
3. Remember to Take the Heat Off
Mirage's focus on stealth also means more consequences for not adhering to the shadows. The more enemies you take down in front of people, the angrier the city will get, with a three-stage GTA-like wanted level increasing over time. At its worst, you will be hunted down by elite enemies for your crimes.
The only way to stop this is to take note of the wanted posters that pop up around Baghdad when your notoriety rises. By ripping down wanted posters, you lessen your notoriety. If you find even navigating the world becomes troublesome because enemies are trying to eliminate you on sight, look for wanted poster markers on your map and start taking them down.
2. Get Out of the City
Assassin’s Creed Mirage focuses all of its action on the singular location of Baghdad, but that isn’t confined to the walls of the city. Baghdad also extends to the landscape on its outskirts, and these less populated areas are worth exploring.
Riding a horse or camel through the deserts and fields surrounding the city lets the player discover ancient ruins and stumble across new side quests. Remember that it isn’t all about city life and go see the countryside.
1. Try Out the Arabic Dub
This last tip won’t change how you play Assassin’s Creed Mirage, but it is still worth doing. Mirage has a fully voiced Arabic dub of the game, which is filled with incredible performances. If you want to get the next level of immersion and experience a more accurate representation of 9th-century Baghdad, you should try out the Arabic Dub. You can switch between languages at any time, so you aren’t losing progress, and you might find you enjoy it!
