Ghost of Yōtei Guide – 14 Tips and Tricks

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Ezo is a vast and beautiful area to discover in Ghost of Yōtei, filled with both amazing sights and hidden threats. Atsu, a bounty hunter determined to find those who killed her family, has a lot on her plate just trying to stay alive. Exploring the world can be very helpful – you’ll find hot springs (onsen) that increase your maximum health, and merchants who can upgrade your armor and weapons. But what’s most important to remember as you seek revenge? Here are 15 helpful tips and tricks.

Weapon Priority

At the beginning of the game, you’ll have a few missions to choose from, such as retrieving the dual swords from Mount Yōtei. It might seem a bit early to do so, but being prepared for enemies who use yari weapons right away is a good strategy. However, you’re free to tackle things in any order you like, so feel free to explore with complete freedom.

Avoid Aim Assist

Just like in Ghost of Tsushima, this game has an option to turn on aim assist, which makes your ranged weapon shots automatically target enemies. However, I wouldn’t recommend using it. It tends to focus on hitting the body instead of the head, which results in lower damage. Also, trying to adjust your aim to hit specific spots like heads or objects in the environment is surprisingly difficult and frustrating.

Talk to NPCs for Side Activity Locations

Always interact with NPCs, whether you’re clearing out camps or simply exploring towns. Many offer side quests, while others give you hints about things like Bamboo Strikes and Wolf Dens. They’ll also provide Map Fragments, which help Atsu learn more about Ezo, and you can revisit them whenever you want.

Classic Melee Combat (Camera)

If you’re not satisfied with the default combat camera, you can switch to the classic Ghost of Tsushima camera for melee fights in the Options menu. From my experience, this camera offers a broader view of the action, preventing enemies from being cut off at the edges of the screen like the standard camera sometimes does. Also, while you’re in the settings, turn on Projectile Indicator in the Accessibility menu. This will always alert you to incoming ranged attacks, which is really helpful when facing enemies with firearms.

Hardening Spirit

Just like before, finishing Bamboo Strikes boosts your maximum Spirit, giving you more chances to heal and use powerful techniques. But completing enough of these challenges also strengthens your Spirit, so it will automatically recover at least one segment whenever you’re not fighting. This recovery can happen twice, and since you’ll frequently be entering and leaving battles-particularly during story missions-it’s a helpful benefit to have.

Pursue Bounties

Look, it sounds simple, but I always grab bounties when I can. Seriously, they’re a lifesaver for getting the coin I need to upgrade my weapons – you know, the essential stuff. Plus, taking on these bounties often throws tougher enemies my way, and those guys drop even better rewards. Honestly, a lot of the bounty stories and the fights themselves are just really fun and different, so it’s a win-win. You can find more information about bounties here.

Pick up Atsu’s Wanted Posters

Interestingly enough, Atsu can collect her own wanted posters via Ezo. While these posters don’t give you any rewards, they immediately restore your Spirit gauge, letting you skip endlessly waiting and jump right into new fights with ease.

Always Camp

With that in mind, it’s generally a good idea to go camping whenever you have free time. You might sometimes choose to skip it to recover Spirit, as the game suggests, but camping is beneficial as often as possible because of the Perks it offers. Cooking fish activates a significant Perk for the day, and cooking mushrooms unlocks a smaller Perk that lasts for the same amount of time. These Perks are assigned randomly, meaning you won’t always receive a powerful offensive or defensive boost, but it’s still helpful. As if that weren’t enough, you also receive a temporary increase to your Spirit.

Camping With the Wolf Pack

You might recall that members of the Wolf Pack, particularly the vendors, will often visit Atsu when she’s camping, though it doesn’t happen every time. It seems you actually need to go to the Wolf Pack menu, choose the specific person you want to visit, and then select the option to camp through their profile. While this might feel a little cumbersome, it does make sure camping happens consistently without issues. Also, keep an eye on the notifications on the left side of your screen, as

Acquire Armor of the Undying

Word of the Undying Samurai will almost certainly get back to Atsu, which will start you on a quest involving following the sound of bells to find the right path. If that sounds a little frustrating, it is, but the prize is definitely worth the effort. The Armor of the Undying restores your health whenever you successfully knock an enemy off balance using the correct weapon – for example, the yari is effective against dual sword and kusarigama wielders, while dual swords work well against yari users, and so on. It also has solid stats for one-on-one fights, and it looks great. Just brace yourself for a challenging battle.

Use (and Abuse) Loadouts

Once you’ve unlocked different loadouts and have a good collection of armor and Charms, start creating multiple builds. Because of how build-crafting works now, specializing in a specific playstyle – whether it’s a stealth build using the kusarigama and quick tools, or a dueling build with the Armor of the Undying – is really important. But even better, you can change your loadouts instantly without any penalties. You could play a build that quickly defeats enemies with arrows, then switch to a duelist build for fighting up close. It’s that simple.

The Wolf Among Us

The Wolf is a fascinating new feature in Yōtei because it doesn’t demand much attention at first. To make it show up when you want a fight – or at certain times – you’ll need to find and finish Wolf Den activities. Given how strong it is – it can even give you a free revive sometimes – it’s definitely worth the effort. However, if you prefer a story centered around Atsu, you can simply change the settings to prevent the Wolf from appearing.

How to Win Most Standoffs

Are you struggling in Standoffs? Do opponents surprise you with fake attacks? Pay attention to their feet. Usually, they’ll only move their feet when they’re actually going to attack. There are some exceptions, but they don’t happen often and their foot movements are clearly different from when they’re making a real attack. Just avoid fighting in tall grass, and you should be okay.

Useful Skills to Unlock

Even though you progress in a set order, there are many helpful skills to learn. Mastering Deflecting Strikes with dual blades is essential, as it lets you easily deflect powerful yari attacks, making them much simpler to handle. You’ll also benefit from Roll, which makes dodging red attacks and putting out fires much easier. Onryo’s Will is incredibly valuable to get early on, as it gives you a self-revive ability costing three Spirit (this can be lowered to two).

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2025-10-03 20:47