Assassin's Creed: Origins (Part 1)
Background Information
Development: Even before Assassin's Creed: Syndicate was released in 2015, Ubisoft was already working on their next game: Assassin's Creed: Origins. It certainly looked like they had a plan. Finding the right color schemes, topography, and vegetation can be pretty difficult when you are going way back to 49 B.C.E. They worked hard to find the best voice actor. They used motion capture on dromedaries (camels). This isn't modern Egypt. This is Ptolemaic Egypt. The game even points out that Cleopatra's rule is closer to our day in the timeline than when the pyramids were built. Although the map only covers a small portion of Egypt, it does rival the sheer size of many other games.
Marketing: Compared to the cool '80s style trailers of the other Assassin Creed games, I feel Ubisoft didn't do a very good job showing off this game to the public. First off, their E3 2017 "gameplay" trailer didn't have any actual gameplay. And it seemed like they still haven't quite learned their lesson as the E3 2020 "gameplay" trailer for Assassin's Creed: Valhalla didn't either. I don't even know what kind of music that is during the cinematic trailer and its ultimately confusing to know what is going on in their "I am" live action trailer. Maybe they were trying to go for an "artistic" direction? Honestly, I kind of prefer PlayStation's trailers: E3, cinematic, and Asia. Then again, there are quite a few other trailers you can watch on Youtube and be the judge for yourself. They must be doing something right for it was marked as the top-mentioned game in June 2017.
Editions: I'm going to skip the formalities of what was inside all the extra downloadable content to save for later. Just know that there was a Deluxe Edition and a Gold Edition with Season Pass offered. The "Gods Edition" had a figurine where the main character is leaning down on the head of a statue. The "Dawn of the Creed Edition" had Bayek and Senu, his pet eagle, figurine on some form of fallen pillar for around $150. The "Dawn of the Creed Legendary Edition" runs you $800 and has a ton of random stuff, including the same statue twice the normal size (only 999 was made available, 200 of which was offered in North America). Both editions also included a small necklace that the protagonist wore in the game. Though if you are fan of Humble Bundle $12 Monthly during May 2019, you may want to check to see if you already own the game on Steam.
Hostile Takeover: Around 2015, there was a company by the name of Vivendi that was investing stock in Ubisoft. First it was 6.6%, then it gradually grew to 10.39%, and somehow gained 23% of the company by September 2016 and 25.15% by December 2016. Now I don't know who these guys are but they certainly made Ubisoft nervous. There was definitely some huge chatter about them being able to be a part of the board meetings and vote on all important decisions. This would change a lot of things to the company depending on the success of the game. Besides, Assassin's Creed: Origins was released in October 27, 2017. But Vivendi weren't committed to taking such an action at the time while holding onto 27.27% of the company. Five months later, Vivendi broke a deal with Ubisoft. "Vivendi spent €794 million over the past three years to gradually acquire its shares of Ubisoft, and it’s now selling that stake for €2 billion." Definitely an interesting turnout.
Technical Difficulties
Issues: Although the core game is roughly 45GB, the full package will require around 75GB. Let's just say I had to delete a few things on my 250GB solid state hard drive. When I first started up the game, there was a huge problem. It was barely running 10 frames-per-second. This was pretty weird since they just offered a free weekend about a month ago and 80% off sale just a couple weeks ago. I ran Assassin's Creed: Syndicate pretty well, and Assassin's Creed Origins system requirements wasn't that demanding. I feared I might have to perform a Squint Test to actually play the game.
I scoured the Internet for a solution. I was not prepared to modify my hardware. Changing the power settings did nothing. Changing AA, limiting fps to 60, and turning everything down to the bare minimum settings increased my fps maybe to 15. I was on the brink of ordering more RAM when I stumbled across this little post in the Nvidia forum. Sure enough, it was confirmed on Steam. The latest Driver 451.48 was the cause. After doing a clean wipe and installing Driver 446.14, everything started to work like magic. For whatever reason, this problem also dates back to the game's release with many other drivers. No more 3-second pauses after every 15 seconds. I was relieved and happy.
What now?: I played the game for around an hour each day to try and optimize the settings. Citizens within the major city hubs still had a hard time transitioning out of their 3D models. I couldn't maximize my resolution. But adjusting the Nvidia Control Panel Settings seemed to curve those issues a little bit. Then after the fourth day, the game wouldn't start. I was in tears. I reverted back all my settings and reset the config file. Nothing. Being pushed to the brink of almost uninstalling the game, I was gifted by a Reddit post that actually wrote out his solution. It was unbelievable that all that hassle was caused because my xbox controller wasn't turned on. So I guess in the end, Ubisoft wasn't at fault for my problems. Just a few software compatibility issues they didn't account for.
DLC
Discovery Tour: Is it kind of odd that the game doesn't have any lore entries? Well, Patch 1.3.0 added Discovery Tour for free with 75 different topics to explore. The interface isn't that bad. You can switch between 25 characters at any time. The game allows you to see a "Passport" of all the topics at once and gives you the option to fast travel. A man or woman talks to you between 2 to 25 spots that stretch across a highlighted line around the location the topic refers to. And they can last between 2 to 25 minutes. On most occasions, a small picture will appear at the bottom left of the screen that can be blown up alongside the transcript. There is no combat. You can walk over crocodiles or bump into guards without any retribution. You can still get into a boat, climb around, or pull out a torch (and throw it if you want to). They also made the unusual decision to censor the statues (and on one occasion an uncensored version of the statue was shown as a picture).
If for some reason you didn't buy the game, you could have bought the stand-alone version for an expensive $20. I do not recommend it. The whole thing takes a little over 2 hours and is just excruciating to sit through. Not only does the script sound like it came from an Encyclopedia but the joint effort of displaying something in front of you, displaying a picture that most of the time reflects to something in real life, and listening to a person talk about things that were way better described in the game itself was terribly disjointed. For an example: The Great Library of Alexander, 9 of 11, shows the map of Eratosthenes and simply says "How do you calculate the circumference of the Earth? With a camel, two sticks, and a shadow cast by the sun..." while a few NPCs talk in front of a board. They couldn't have expounded on that even a little (and by sheer coincidence this guy agrees with me)? Even the wiki does a better job explaining it. Might as well watch Carl Sagan explain it over the bare bones this game gives. Yet despite the limited narration, there were a few facts I did enjoy learning about: the Festival of Drunkenness, the events that unfolded between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, how the development team chose to portray certain things in the game, and details on the Rosetta Stone. I still would have preferred more real life comparisons instead of seeing a long list of statues, play models, layout designs, and paintings.
The one enormous difference (and missed opportunity) with this mode is the ability to enact NPC animations by positioning yourself into any of the nearby highlighted white circles on the ground. Want to sit down as a child and enjoy a bowl of vegetables? How about choosing a Greek woman, picking up a scroll, and sitting down along the aristocrats? I personally had fun watching Cleopatra play with a toy horse on the ground with the rest of the kids. If there is someone currently occupying the spot, you can try pushing them out of the way. If you do manage to complete all the tours, Patch 1.4.0 added the reward of a white eagle outfit for Senu.
Hidden Ones: The first time I saw the name of Ubisoft's add-on, I thought I was going to fight a chain of mythical gods. It wasn't only until the last cutscene of the core game that I realized that it represented the ones who were a part of the Bureau. The trailer makes it look spectacular. It takes place 4 years after the events of the main campaign over in Sinai. I love the blind singer and made sure to pitch in my coin every time I heard him on the street. I only wished my 8 hours of exploring the 4 regions wasn't so disappointing. Other than a couple of new cosmetics, nothing fundamentally changes to the gameplay. Your quests are now focused around the members of The Brotherhood.
You
will notice a couple of changes. Your equipment can now be upgraded
another tier from all those stacks of 3 carbon crystals that pour into
your lap from the region's loot chests. Your targets are now centered
around a few lieutenants and ruffians who cause disturbances to you and
the villagers. Aya Amunet comes by to visit you and assist in the problem. There is also a nice somewhat horrifying addition of things deep within the sea (so make sure you trait into Underwater Breathing). However, you will run into a number of problems.
For some reason, it felt to me that this extension wasn't as polished
as it should have been. One crazy example is the time I encountered a
counterweight that didn't load on top of a lift causing Gamilat to be
eternally stuck underneath a platform. I also found the riddles to be much more difficult to the brink of impossible for me to solve on my own. The number of quests it had was underwhelming. Otherwise, I felt like it was well worth playing through after completing the main campaign. It got me from level 48 to 55.
The Curse of the Pharaohs: You would think that after reaching the maximum level all my leveling woes would be gone. Unfortunately, I still didn't have enough to unlock every ability in the skill tree. I could have gone back to the Bureau in Memphis to buy Experience Tomes, but all my money was still being wasted trying to level up all those cool new legendary items from level 48 up to 55. The add-on sure felt like another Hidden Ones expansion. You learn of this weird curse plaguing the land. Areas are being flooded as the Nile rises. People are panicking over the Romans invading the tombs. There's a rumor of a mysterious relic summoning pharaohs to attack those who are unrighteous. The usual stuff.
Initially, the only new thing you will find in this DLC is the sudden rise of pharaohs. The mechanic is rather simplistic. Somewhere on the map, you will be alerted of a "Shadow of a Pharaoh" slaughtering people. This would be pretty terrorizing if it wasn't for the fact that the pharaoh only rises when you are nearby, chases down five targets that spawn around the area (even if it is in the middle of a desert), and then disappears when they are all dead. You can try to kill the enemy, but you must do so while the spawned characters are still alive. Your only reward is 3 stones that contribute to upgrading your equipment another tier. These stones are nearly worthless as you can get enough for every upgrade within the tombs.
The main highlight of the DLC are the four tombs tucked away in the western district of the map. Although you can potentially enter and complete the quests inside all four tombs at once, I highly recommend waiting. The pacing of the quests will help you dramatically if you venture into each tomb naturally through the story. These areas represent four different pharaohs on a somewhat metaphysical level - Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, and Ramesses II. If you were paying attention in school, you'll also spot a few familiar gods like Ra and Anubis. These illusions replicate Egyptian mythology regarding of what happens to souls inside the Duat and the Field of Reeds. You'll see giant scorpions that guard the land, soldiers enlisted by the gods themselves, birds with the heads of man, giant lotus flowers, the remnants of ancient battles, and a fight against each of the pharaohs. These areas alone made the 15 hours worthwhile.
Limited Time Events
Gift of the Gods: For whatever reason, Ubisoft decided to include some events that were only available for a limited time. That means that I would most definitely not be able to participate in them. This makes me both mad and sad. One of these events was Gift of the Gods in which they created some crossover event with Final Fantasy XV. You would open up some sort of special tomb in Assassin's Creed: Origins to obtain a wicked-looking sword, shield, and chocobo mount (and a little surprise by your computer) while the other game had some sort of Assassin's Festival. This event depended on having a save file before December 2018 but also sort of came back March 2019. So there is no telling whether you have access to it or not. Here is the transcript if you are curious.
Trials of the Gods: Trial of the Gods was a simple quest that had you pit against a giant god with his waves of minions through some sort of Animus Glitch in the system. You'd get various items for completing certain objectives. The fights were really cool. UbiWorkshop also built 100 units composed of the busts from the three gods for a whopping $800. Sadly, this event relied heavily on previous challenges that were only offered through Ubisoft's online service.
Modifiers
Menu Options: Where to begin? The number of things they allow you to change in this game is way beyond any of the other Assassin Creed game. It has your typical brightness, Windows Mode, V-Sync, Resolution. But it also has screen calibration, Field of View, FPS Limit, and Resolution Modifier. You can run a Benchmark Test or check a chart on how your fps is fairing as you play the game. You can tweak nearly any sort of graphic setting - fog, water, reflections, texture, shadows, ground clutter, character details, or depth of view just to name a few. Make sure to turn those subtitles on! If you recall from Assassin's Creed 3: Remastered Edition, you can also add the character's name or a full opacity background box. You can boost the volume of the dialogue if it's too quiet or increase the frequency the music sounds while exploring the landscape. You can turn off the fight damage, compass or enemy proximity feedback (new in Patch 1.1.0) from your HUD if they get too distracting.
Gameplay Options: One thing you might consider is turning Blood FX off. I recall the quest "Accidental Philosopher" where there was a pool of water the size of a boat and several blood stains that led me to a house, but somehow the guy could still walk. Blood splattering all over my face, clothes, and mount can be quite ridiculous at times. If you fall down a little too far, there is a chance your entire head will be covered with thick layer of blood for a good minute before it fades away. Though I'm quite surprised there isn't a language filter for swearing or nudity filter for breasts. They added all those clam shells to the statues while taking the Discovery Tour, you would think they would give you that option in the game too. You can take photos (Patch 1.0.3) by pressing down both analog sticks like some sort of tour guide in Final Fantasy XV. You can adjust your movement sensitivity or reverse vertical controls. You can modify your input options to toggle an action or requiring you to hold down the button. I kept walk and crouch to "toggle" while I made my aim and shield actions to "hold" during my playthrough.
Difficulty Options: A few of these options were included in some following patches. You can set the game between four different settings: easy, normal, hard, and (Patch 1.1.0) nightmare mode. The patch also added the option to make all enemies scale up to your level but you cannot make enemies scale down to your level. Although the game automatically sets your Aim Assist to "Partial", you can change it to make your cursor stick to your target like glue in "Full" or "Off" if you are looking for some challenge. The game also provides an Animus Control Panel, but please be aware that it requires you to connect to Uplay and will disable certain parameters. These aren't your typical "cheats" they allowed you in previous games. There is a laundry list of options to choose from. It also "copies" your save file over to another slot so you can toy with both versions if you want. Increase your run speed, change characters, or create an army of hippos if you feel like it. After beating the main campaign, people can then access new game plus (added in Patch 1.3). And of course they added an outfit for beating it a second time through.
Changing the Controls: Whoever set the default options for the controller really didn't understand how irritating it was for someone like me. The good news? You can customize your gamepad controller! First thing I changed... the Animus Pulse that reveals objects around you had to be re-wrapped from up directional pad to left analog button press. That way I could spam it as I ran around. No way was I going to keep the 'X' button as dodge - something that has always been used to attack & assassinate your targets in every game. I decided to make that my "heavy attack" option. I moved dodge over to 'B' where it should be and made the up directional pad my crouch option (since both whistles are tied to down directional pad). Because my finger got numb holding over the bumpers, I made my arrow aim 'LB' and fire 'RT' while my shield wrapped to 'LT' and light strike to 'RT' (since I'm a crazy person and all). Unfortunately my only option left for calling my eagle was Right Bumper. Eagle hovering is ironically tied to aiming with your bow, which is alright since it sort of matches the "bumpers equal eagle overhead" theme I had going on. For the rest of the "conflict" options shaded red, you just gotta' make due.
Combat
Outline: Unlike previous Assassin's Creed games, every weapon is uniquely designed to cater for a different playstyle. Not only is your general attack speed and range of strikes vary with each type, but each devastating item comes with new RPG elements and "optional" trait ability. This section will cover each and every one of them. Since you are limited to a number of ability points in the beginning of the game, it would be wise to plan accordingly (trait tree is outdated in link).
Exclusives Note: I will not be covering all the downloadable weapons. You can purchase various items with Helix Credits in the store or have a chance to obtain the items randomly by buying Heka Chests for 3000 drachmas. There is also a list of packs you can get with Helix Credits: Almighty Pack, Eastern Dynasties Pack, Far Cry Primal Pack, First Civilization Pack, For Honor Pack, Gladiator Items Pack, Nightmare Pack, Undead Pack, and Wacky Items Pack. The Mercenary Pack and Tribal Pack were pre-order bonuses (later made available for Helix Points) for a few rare items. That doesn't even mention all the Ubisoft Club Content, Twitch Prime exclusives, Monster Drink promotions, or anything else they managed to throw out there through marketing. However, I will mention a few obtained from Deluxe Pack, Roman Centurion Pack, and Horus Pack since they were included in some initial release content.
Early Trait Recommendation: Warrior Core Abilities: Regeneration, Charge Heavy Attack, Weapon Bearer, Attack And Push, Adrenaline 1, Shield Charge. Hunter Core Abilities: Headshot XP, Assassination XP, Assassination Loot, Stealth Kill Streak, Chain Assassination, Bow Bearer. Seer Core Abilities: Dawn and Dusk, Salesman, Tool Kill XP, Sleep Darts, Fire Bomb, Smoke Screen, Pyromaniac.
Melee Weapons
Regular Swords: Balanced weapons with decent range and attack speed that focuses on Critical Hit Rate (20-50% to inflict critical damage). Hepzefas Sword (aka Flame Sword) is a legendary weapon you can eventually obtain through the story missions. Vox Populi (from Roman Centurion Pack) offers instant charging for breaking down shields. Overpower: shortens the gap by having you lunge forward and stab the first person you encounter (locking your target will help focus your charge). Attack And Push: adds two quick strikes and a shield parry.
Sickle Swords: "Technical" weapons that focus on bouncing around multiple targets while applying Bleeding on Hit (10-40% Inflict Bleed Status). The Fang (from Desert Cobra Pack) adds 20% chance to add poison on hit. Overpower: slows everything down and increases your attack speed. Attack And Push: dodges backwards with first strike and then follows up with a secondary strike.
Dual Swords (aka daggers): Weapons used to overwhelm enemies with rapid strikes that focus on Adrenaline Regeneration (1-4 points per second). Consistently striking your enemies gives you the advantage of countering their every strike. However, their short reach coupled with the fact that you cannot use your shield makes you an open target (especially against archers). These weapons are centered around using Overpower to lunge at your opponent and using the trait: Overpower Combo that allows you to strike your enemy another oh... 9 times while on the ground.
Heavy Blunts (aka maces): Very slow weapons requiring careful planning that deal massive damage with each strike. They usually provide Adrenaline on Kill (20-50 points). I do not recommend their standard strikes as it takes far too long with a light attack and their heavy attack starts with sticking your weapon out to parry (since you can't carry a shield) and then follows-up with a single strike. They are much better utilized to swing outward while dodging around a target until you can initiate Overpower. This "slows everything down" and makes your attacks unstoppable.
Heavy Blades (aka long axes or halberds): Decent weapons with a long reach that focus on being reckless with your attacks to build Adrenaline on Hurt (10-25 points upon receiving damage). Divide et Impera (from Roman Centurion Pack) adds Health on Hit (1%). Leviathan (from Elite Boss "The Brothers") adds Health on Kill (15% health). Though their swings aren't as quick as with a sword, their strikes are powerful and more potent after using Overpower. Because of the chance of killing an enemy with one lunge, it is recommended to seek out the trait: Overpower Chain Throw to allow the chance to destroy a secondary target. Gaining the trait: Shield Charge also gives heavy blades the unique ability to constantly swing your weapon in exchange for using adrenaline. Their long reach is also desirable in mounted combat.
Scepters (or long hammers): Defensive weapons specifically designed to distribute damage across multiple incoming targets with increasing ferocity through the Combo Multipliers (110-125% damage increased after each consecutive hit). Scepters feel initially weak with their lack of damage and disappointing Attack And Push being reduced to a simple lunge. However, you'll find their long reach and increase in speed while using Overpower makes them quite formidable in battle.
Spears: Weapons used to lunge at targets. That's about it. The odd part about spears is they seem to cater to parrying blows with your shield then following up with a heavy attack or Overpower. Both of these abilities are reduced to a single charge at your enemy and hitting them multiple times with weapon's tip. Attack And Push makes you swing your spear around 360 degrees like a polearm.
Melee Weapon Summary: While maintaining a good flow in combat, I recommend regular swords and heavy blades. If you want to have a little bit of fun, dual swords and heavy blunts will keep things interesting. Sickle swords and scepters are both interesting but lack the punch that is needed to finish the job unless you find a really good one your level. I could never manage to stay alive using spears except when they were required in the arena.
Ranged Weapons
Hunter Bows: Pull back your bow to increase the amount of damage the arrow does. Their main ability is, of course, Charging Speed (Bow Charge reduced 10-40%). Crescent Moon (from Horus Pack) ignites every arrow in fire. This was already devastating to ignite oil and make guards panic. The trait: Pyromaniac increases the damage 50%. Enhanced Hunter Bow: Charged Shot Breaks Enemy Shields. Piercing arrows: Fully charged shot pierces shields.
Warrior Bows: Shoot out a stack of arrows all at the same time. That sounds cool until you realize that you don't actually shoot out 5 arrows to 5 targets all at the same time. Basically instead of shooting one powerful arrow, you are rolling the dice by dispersing the damage across several arrows. The bow doesn't provide anything fancy to the table. Enhanced Warrior Bow: Reduces Dispersion (in other words - adds precision). Shattering Arrows: Fully charged arrows inflict bleed status on target.
Light Bows: Rapidly fires a handful of arrows before withdrawing more from your quiver. This can be extremely beneficial if you have a bow with the right attributes. It's primary attribute is of course Rate of Fire (20% - 50% increase). Morning Sun (from Horus Pack) allows Ranged Hit Multiplier which makes every arrow deal double damage at a range greater than 20 meters. Enhanced Light Bow: Fire more arrows before reloading. Hail of Arrows: Increases damage to each consecutive struck arrow.
Predator Bows: Fires a single arrow. The thing about this weapon is it focuses on Stealth Damage (115% - 160% more damage while undetected). Although you get less than a dozen arrows to use, obtaining the trait: Enhanced Predator Bow allows you to control the arrow like a guided missile up to around 100 meters. Toxin Arrows: "Flesh Decay" on targets if killed by an arrow.
Ranged Weapon Summary: The "damage" a weapon does per second is entirely dependent on every arrow being shot and actually hitting its target as quickly as possible. This construes the amount a warrior bow can deal (since you can waste arrows by missing or wasting them on a single target) and how chaotic light bows can get in the heat of battle. Predator bows are extremely deadly as you can steer the arrow to deal extra stealth damage, catch stuff on fire when attributed accordingly, and make a perfect head-shot. Hunter bows should be used in everyday combat since you can focus all the damage of a single arrow into a killing head-shot.
Seer Abilities
Interface Issue: The game provides you with three tools you can trait for: fire bomb, sleep darts, and poison darts. The problem is you can only equip one of these at a time. Not just that, but you have to hold the left directional pad to select your tool. For some stupid reason, they didn't give you the option to select them from a weapon wheel. In addition, there are 3 "invisible" tools you can trait for: Flesh Decay, Berserk, and Smoke Screen. Although there is a set limit on "ammunition" for these, you do not have to equip them. You only "interact" with the appropriate target since there is no way of firing these tools at a distance. Then there are two "hidden" abilities you can unlock: Animal Training and Chariot Owner.
Sleep Dart: The most effective thing in the game has to be this little tool. You can use it on anything! Guard coming straight at you? Shoot him with a dart and then assassinate him with a single button press. Animal coming at you? Well you can't assassinate the thing, but you can "Tame" it with the trait: Animal Training in 3 seconds and have him go after other targets. You can only have one at a time and they don't instantly respawn to your location if they refuse to climb a giant cliff or a heavy stream. They do slowly regenerate health like you, but un-taming will just make them mad and attack. What about a man on a horse? Put the horse to sleep and watch as the guard just sits there wondering why he isn't going anywhere. Arrow racks anywhere will instantly refill your supply.
Smoke Screen: After performing a single action - like strike, dodge, parry - you can press the 'Y' button to lay down a Smoke Screen. In its basic form, it simply adds another variable to whether or not a guard can still see you. I've found archers still capable of launching arrows at my head through the smoke. Trait Smoke Screen Damage and your smoke can add a little stun effect to the guys immediately around you. You can't throw it like some opponents in the game. I found myself using this less and less as I progressed. Yet, it still can be an effective tool to have in emergencies.
Berserk: You don't throw it like a dart. You can only use it if you are undetected. Instead of assassinating your target, you set it to berserk status. After using it, don't panic if the guard immediately detects you. You have a couple seconds to get away while he shakes his body like someone suddenly thrown into a pool of freezing water. He doesn't "search" for enemies but blindly wanders around in the immediate vicinity. So half the time you will find yourself ending up fighting an overpowered enemy that you could have killed instantly. The only way to gain more ammunition is by going to a blacksmith and refilling your tools for 1 drachma each. I fail to see the point of this trait ability.
Chariot Owner: I cannot say for sure this was worth investing 3 points into. This ability allows you to purchase 3 different chariots (by rarity). You cannot hold a torch in your hand while holding onto the reins. I can only speculate that chariots are around 5% faster than horses, and thereby 10% faster than camels. The chariots are incredibly durable and can go over some very large bumps. Plunging it into water or having it be ignited by fire will destroy the structure. However, the horses will flee to a safe spot allowing you to still mount on top of them.
Other Tools: Fire bombs become redundant when you have a bow with the fire attribute attached. And if you don't, you can always light your arrows by touching anything on fire, including a burning torch you threw on the ground. Just in case, it would be wise to keep these handy to fight against an army of snakes. Poison darts don't seem to do enough damage to the target. It is already hard enough switching over to them. Flesh Decay is Poison Darts with extra steps. You find a corpse, poison it, and anyone that walks by slowly dies.
Gear
Obtaining Items: Straight away you realize something is different with this Assassin's Creed game. There are no collectibles. Well, that's not entirely true. There are 25 papyrus riddles you can find at various locations. The riddles are well-done and explicitly tell you where to go to get an item. I only had to look up 3 of them online. By using your Animus Pulse, you can find vases filled with a handful of drachmas or containers that have small vendor trash that sells up to 200 drachmas each. Instead of looting off bodies, enemies will drop coin purses that will always have some sort of random item inside. Equipment usually is about 2 or 3 levels below the opponent's level regardless of how difficult the enemy was. It is possible to obtain loot higher than your level that you can't use if you were so bold to attack something bigger than you.
Many of the 125 quests will reward certain items to you. However, there will only be a couple "important weapons" that will be legendary status. Completing the hippodrome or arenas can also net you some awesome equipment. Though, the majority of your weapons will be obtained by seeking out "loot" chests found in a list of objectives around the map. These items will always be your current level! If push comes to shove, you can always buy equipment from the vendor.
Nomad's Bazaar: In your travels, you will come across a little boy and his "blue" camel. He offers 20 Carbon Crystals for 3000 drachmas each that do not restock. Though, I wouldn't recommend buying any since they drop like candy over at Sinai inThe Hidden Ones DLC. The kid also offers an unknown Heka Chest for 3000 drachmas each as well. If you are online and the game doesn't break, you can do a timed quest for a chest every 24 hours. Currency is usually pretty tight during the game since you will be buying legendary outfits (mounts and clothes) for 5000 drachmas. By the end of my experience, I had about 60,000 drachmas to spend and decided to buy 15 chests. You must realize by now that these are glorified lootboxes. I received 7 rare items, 7 legendary items, and a unicorn. That's right! I got the mount that leaves rainbow trails behind her and costs 500 Helix Points from a lootbox. And after checking the list of 1200 opened boxes, it seems like its a 50-50 thing on whether you get a legendary item. There is even a slight chance to get anything from the store. The cost of the box is fair since upgrading a legendary to your level can cost 6000 drachmas.
Crafting: Where I feel the game ultimately fails at is making a decent crafting system. There are six things you can upgrade: Hidden Blade, Quiver, Stabilizing Glove, Bracer, Breastplate, and Tool Pouch. You can buy material at vendors, track down items using your eagle, dismantle your gear for reagents, or randomly pick up items from storage containers. They made it so you can't instantly kill guys higher than your level simply to justify you upgrading your Hidden Blade (which is useless in the long run). As good as it is to focus on your Quiver and Tool Pouch to increase your maximum ammunition, increasing your maximum morale by upgrading your breastplate should be priority. Increasing your damage through your stabilizing gloves and bracers should come last as the difficulty of the game can always be adjusted.
The amount of material you get will vary. Animals will always drop 1 of a certain leather until you kill a "marked" target for 4. Alpha animals will drop 14. Dismantling will generally give you about 4 of a specific ore. Raiding caravans or boats can provide you with 10-30 of a specific item depending on their level. Convoys can sometimes carry 200 drachmas. As rewarding as it was to take down these patrols, it can be quite difficult. The carriers will attempt to run away from you while their escorts swarm around you with deadly arrows aimed directly at your back. I was once killed by an ambush of camel-herders half my level because their rotating fire arrows burned me to dust.
Economy: In a normal RPG, the level and then the quality of an item determines the cost. In Assassin's Creed: Origins, the level of an item has minimum influence over the cost. A level 10 regular weapon sells for 75 drachmas while a level 20 regular weapon sells for 100 drachmas. A level 10 rare weapon sells for 150 drachmas when a level 20 rare weapon sells for 200. What about upgrading an item? The number of levels you are upgrading a weapon does not matter to the overall cost. You read that right. So upgrading a legendary weapon from level 1 to 40 or 38 to 40 costs exactly the same - 6000 drachmas. I don't know about you, but this made me furious. Most of the drachmas you earn is by selling items to the vendor. There is no income in the game. So don't be trying to upgrade your equipment every time you level.
Inventory: Ubisoft also decided to make regular equipment blue, rare equipment purple, and legendary equipment yellow. I guess this is ok. I was half-expecting your common everyday equipment to be white or grey and rare items to be blue. The color contrast must not work well with the white text. They wonderfully added an option to "hide" equipment so you can simply see what things you want to most of the time. There doesn't seem to be any sort of weight restrictions or inventory micro-management. You can just keep on looting as many things as you want.
As a tip once told me, one important thing you should do is double check those special abilities by pressing the left analog stick. "Sleep on Block" gives you a 10% to put your enemy to sleep? Damage Absorption Value gives you a 10% chance to absorb 50-99% damage? Health for Critical sets all attacks to critical when under 20% health? A lot of attributes are pretty pathetic when you think about it.
Outfits: The cost and location of each of the outfits can vary, but there doesn't seem to be any difference in speed for mounts or attributes for clothes. The rarer the item, the higher the cost, and the more distinct the outfit looks. Weavers offer outfits and Stables offer mounts. In Patch 1.1.0, they added icons to allow users easier access to removing the head-portion of the outfit, having a shaved head or not, and a complete removal of Bayek's beard. If an outfit has a mask, his dialogue will reflect that. Even the Isu Armor gives his voice a unique hollow sound.
8-11-2020