10 Ghost of Yotei tips and tricks to survive the grasslands and beyond

✓ VideoGamer summary

• Complete bounties to earn Mon.
• Master Weapon Alignment counters.
• Complete Sensei and Myth quests to unlock weapons and armor.
• Complete Hot Springs and Bamboo Strikes to increase Atsu’s health and Spirit.
• Swap your armor based on the threat and situation.
• Tear down Onryo posters to replenish Spirit.
• Kill archers first.
• Buy the Yumi bow early on.
• Unlock the Roll, Safe Fall, Block Projectiles, Brute Assassination, and Chain Assassination techniques as soon as you can.
• Bow to unlock secrets and easter eggs.

Our Ghost of Yotei tips and tricks guide will set you up for success in the lawless lands of Ezo. Packed with activities, secrets, and awe-inspiring vistas to gawk at, Yotei’s open world can feel like an overwhelmingly dense playground at first.

Though developer Sucker Punch does well to guide in the right direction, the immersive qualities of Ezo mean there’s less hand-holding and guidance than your typical open-world game. Our 10 Ghost of Yotei tips and tricks will help you as you start Atsu’s journey to become a feared Onryo and avenge her family.

1. Short on Mon? Take on bounties

Whether it’s for weapon and armor upgrades, charms, skins, masks, and supplies, you’re going to need Mon as you explore Ghost of Yotei. While completing quests and looting bodies will reward you with a decent haul, the best way to get a big drop of cash is to take on a bounty and kill the target. You can pick up bounties from Kojiro the Broker at the Yotei’s Shadow Inn in the Yotei Grasslands and from similar hubs in later regions. Just remember to report back to Kojiro to claim your pay.

2. Learn Weapon Alignment counters and use them

The Wolf Blade will serve you well for the early hours of Ghost of Yotei, but as you venture deeper into Ezo, it loses some of its bite, at least against enemies not wielding katanas. To mitigate this, you’ll want to tap into Weapon Alignment, a mechanic that essentially works as a counter system. By using a weapon that’s strong against what an enemy is wielding, it will be more effective at taking them down, staggering, and getting through blocks. Here’s a quick Weapon Alignment refresher. 

• Katana counters katanas and swords.
• Dual Katanas counter yari, naginata, and polearms.
• Yari counters sickles, kusarigama, and dual kama.
• Odachi counters large enemies and brutes.
• Kusarigama counters shields

3. ​​Sensei and Myth quests unlock new weapons and armor

Speaking of weapons, don’t sleep on side quests, especially Sensei and Myth quests. The former typically unlocks new weapons, while the latter means a fresh armor set more often than not. There are a lot of optional activities in Ghost of Yotei, and it can be tricky deciding what’s worth your time; these two quest types certainly are absolutely worth completing.

4. Complete Hot Springs and Bamboo Strikes to raise your health and Spirit

Ghost of Yotei is stacked with activities. If you go out of your way to complete any of them, make sure it’s the Hot Springs and Bamboo Strikes. Soaking in a spring increases your maximum health. They are signalled by a rising plume of steam, which you’ll conveniently spot from quite far away, making them easy to find. As for Bamboo Strikes, they increase your Spirit gauge, meaning more healing and more special attacks. These are harder to find but worth the detour when you do come across them.

5. Swap armor sets based on the situation

Many of the armor sets in Ghost of Yotei go hard, rich with detail and plenty of customization thanks to tons of skin options. While you might have a favorite for aesthetic reasons, get into the habit of swapping armor sets based on the situation at hand because each set has a specialty or area where it excels. Picking off enemies with the bow? Don the Dragonfly armor to empower your arrows and improve the load speed. Going for stealth in a Saito camp? Pop on the Nine Tail Armor. 

6. Tear down Onryo bounty posters to replenish Spirit

For better or for worse, you’ll invariably have times when you’re short on Spirit. You can recoup it mid-fight by killing enemies, pulling off perfect parries, ending a crawling enemy’s suffering, and knocking back sake. Out of combat, your best bet is to set up camp by summoning your horse. However, there’s another way, which we believe constitutes one of the best Ghost of Yotei tips and tricks out there. Whenever you tear down a bounty poster with Atsu’s Onryo likeness on it, you’ll fully replenish your Spirit gauge instantaneously. This is a huge boon and easy to miss, too. 

7. Kill archers first

This tip was relevant in Ghost of Tsushima and carries over as one of the more useful Ghost of Yotei tips and tricks, too. Archers are tedious in the thick of a fight, pummeling you with arrows and shifting your attention away from parrying and dodging melee attacks. Having to dodge when they telegraph arrows with a shout gets tedious fast. As soon as you start a scrap, make a beeline for the archers and take them out. Doing so will make the fight so much easier. They also go down in a couple of hits, so it’s easy work. Better yet, pick them off with your own bow before engaging other enemies.

8. Buy the Yumi bow to penetrate helmets

The starting Hankyu bow is a mean option at close range, but tapers off at a certain distance. Worse, it can’t penetrate helmets, making headshots against armored enemies ineffective. To mitigate this, pencil in a visit to Ran the Bowyer at the Yotei’s Shadow Inn in the Yotei Grasslands to buy the Yumi, a long bow that can pierce helmets. It’s the best use of any Mon you’ve amassed early on in Ghost of Yotei. 

Bonus tip: If you’re ever short on arrows and don’t have the supplies to craft any, head to Ran’s shop. Next to her is a stack of arrows you can loot for free.

9. Unlock these techniques early

Though decent enough, Atsu’s starting moveset and toolkit are pretty rudimentary. It omits some pretty practical and basic skills, such as dodge rolling. After completing the first couple of Ghost of Yotei story quests, take some time to find Altars of Reflection for technique points, and then unlock these skills to make life in Ezo easier:

• Roll – tap a direction and double circle to roll and evade attacks and extinguish fire.
• Safe Fall – tap circle before landing from heights to roll and avoid fall damage.
• Block Projectiles – Hold L1 to block incoming arrows and kunai.
• Brute Assassination – assassinate large brute enemy types.
• Chain Assassination – assassinate two nearby enemies in quick succession.

10. Take a bow

Fairly early on in Ghost of Yotei, you’ll come across wooden signs with what appears to be someone bowing etched onto them. They typically show in idyllic beauty spots such as the waterfall in the southwest of the Yotei Grasslands. This is a video game, so you likely know where this is going. However, at the risk of stating the obvious, you can bow near these signs to trigger unique surprises and easter eggs.

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