Ubisoft revealed Assassin's Creed Mirage during a special celebratory event for the franchise's 15th anniversary. After several trailers, gameplay videos, and even a Game Informer cover (check out our hub here for exclusive behind-the-scenes content and more), the game is finally out for everyone.
If you've kept up with Mirage, you know it's a bit of a return to the series' roots. After completing the game, it's safe to say that's definitely the case, with Mirage falling somewhere between where this franchise began and the modern RPGs of late. It feels modern but ditches the RPG mechanics and nature of the open-world games and instead embraces series tradition: a singular city to explore, a focus on stealth and parkour, one-hit assassinations, and more.
You can read Game Informer's Mirage review here for a fuller look at the overall experience, but if you've made your mind up and are ready to jump into ninth-century Baghdad with assassin Basim, we have some tips and tricks for you to read first.
Here are 13 tips and tricks for Assassin's Creed veterans and newcomers to master the ways of the Hidden Ones in Mirage:
1
Pay Attention To Your Last Known Location
Pay attention to your "Last Known Location." This is represented in-game by a yellow-golden outline of Basim that looks as if it's made of sand. When you see it, that's Mirage telling you that you're technically out of the sightlines of guards who might be chasing you. That Last Known Location outline is the last guards have seen of you, which means it's where they will look. They'll also cautiously look around the area to see if you're nearby, but hopefully, you aren't – let that Last Known Location appear and then disappear.
2
Bypass The Pickpocketing Minigame With Sleep Darts
In Mirage, to pickpocket an individual, you must complete a minigame. A diamond shape appears on screen with an outline that grows smaller toward the center of it. Along its path to the center is a blue diamond outline. You must hit the pickpocket button when the moving diamond outline is inside the blue diamond outline. Do this for a successful pickpocket; fail, and the would-be victim will alert local guards. You'll want to run away if you fail.
Some pickpocket attempts are quite challenging, and if you aren't good at the pickpocket minigame, all attempts will likely be difficult. But you can make it much easier by using a sleep dart (upgrade your Blow Dart Tool to Tier 1 to unlock this). Once hit, the target will briefly fall asleep, and you can easily pickpocket them, bypassing the minigame altogether.
3
Look For White Sheets
Mirage's Baghdad is a parkour paradise for Basim. There are pathways in and out of the city, every which way you look. But if you don't know where to look, you might struggle to identify more optimal paths from here to there. Fortunately, developer Ubisoft Bordeaux has included an easy-to-spot indicator that essentially says, "I am the start of a nice freerun parkour path." That indicator is a white sheet. It might appear hanging off a ladder, on a building, up a slanted ramp, on some crates to climb, and more. If you need a speedy getaway or want to find a fun path on the rooves of Baghdad, look for a white sheet.
4
Gallop Efficiently
Basim's horse or camel can gallop at great speeds. However, it can only do so if it has stamina. Galloping on the streets and clear paths of Baghdad and the surrounding wilderness will not deplete your mount's stamina at all, so if you're trying to get somewhere as fast as possible, stick to the roads. If you gallop off the streets, the mount's stamina will deplete.
5
How To Earn Skill Points Fast
Skill points primarily come through mission/contract completions, not XP for killing enemies or other actions. Watch for contracts that show skill points as rewards, as that's the fastest way to get those additional skills. In one of our editor's playthroughs, they focused 90 percent of their time in Baghdad on main missions, with the other 10 percent going toward contracts and general exploration. When they rolled credits, they had obtained all but four skills, which is to say, by the time you roll credits, you'll have most of the skills unlocked. Of course, if you want a specific skill as soon as possible, completing contracts alongside story missions is the fastest way to make that happen.