Ghost Of Tsushima - Tips and Tricks on Becoming The Ghost

Ghost of Tsushima has been out for a little bit now, and I myself am on my third playthrough. Looking back, I wanted to give some advice on what I thought people needed to know going forward, and some warnings about mistakes I made in my first playthrough. Without further ado, let’s get right into the content. And, fair warning, there will be some light spoilers.

First and foremost, I want to talk about Stances. While the game will continually remind you what stances work best against certain enemies if you’re not using them. Despite this, there is a singular answer to everything: The Water Stance. If you fully upgrade this early-game stance meant to overpower shield wielding enemies, the Triangle combo can ultimately break any guard with ease. And I mean ANY Guard. Fighting against Khotun Khan? Water Stance can slap that spear away. Fighting against a Straw Hat Ronin? Flail your sword around in a Water Stance Heavy Combo to conquer that traitor. The power of the Water Stance is unmatched.

If you want to fight against your opponents normally, instead of using the Water Stance technique, its best to memorize the Stances and the enemies they’re strong against. If you need a reminder: Stone Stance is strongest against Swordsmen. This means most Samurai you fight in Duels, the Straw Hat Ronin, and all the variants of Mongol Swordsmen. Water Stance is strongest against Shield Bearers. Anyone who uses a sword and shield, including the giant tower shield wielding Mongols, can be quickly conquered by the Water Stance. The Wind Stance is strongest against Spearmen. These enemies can be easily defeated without the Wind Stance if you’ve mastered parrys, but if you’re looking for a quick kill then the Wind Stance is the way. Lastly, the Moon Stance is strong against Brutes. These are the tall and muscular foes wielding Axes or giant ancient guns.

These are all meaningless, however, once you’ve uncovered the Ghost Stance. This terrifying ultimate ability allows you to instantly kill most enemies. What you might not have realized is that the Ghost Stance can also be used in Samurai Duels. If you’re going up against a Boss, Ghost Stance can be used to deal a massive amount of damage. If you’re worried about struggling early on, you can use Ghost Stance as an opener. However, if you’re more confident in your abilities to dodge and parry, you can use Ghost Stance to end a fight once you’ve gotten your enemy down to a lower health.

The last thing I want to talk about is a word of advice: Don’t do what I did. When went through my first Ghost of Tsushima playthrough, I was so eager to go through the story that I didn’t bother to go through a large majority of the Shinto Shrines or Inari Shrines, and I only used the Hot Springs or Bamboo Strikes I came across, rather than actively seeking them out. This was a huge mistake. If I had actively searched for the Shrines, Hot Springs, and Bamboo Strikes, I would have been a far more deadly warrior. The Shrines I did come across gave me some of the best charms in the game you can find, such as “Remain Hidden when Performing Assassinations from Grass.” The second time around, I made absolutely sure to find as many of the Shrines as possible, because the Charms are wildly powerful.

Another mistake I made was just forgetting to upgrade things. While I made sure to heavily upgrade my favorite armor set, the Sakai Armor, I never once remembered to upgrade my Bow. As the game progressed, my Katana and my Ammo reservoirs were upgraded, but I just... didn’t go to the Bowyers. I’m not sure if it hurt me in the long run, but I’m sure that it would’ve been a help to me further down the line, as enemies started to take less damage from attacks.

I hope these small tips can help you, and be sure to look out for more tips on the way!

Tyler Krasnai
Editor, NoobFeed
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