Assassin’s Creed Mirage Guide - Beginner Tips and Tricks

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is here and if you are about to load up the game, here are a few tips and tricks to get you started as you begin roaming the streets of 9th-century Baghdad.

Ubisoft Bordeaux did an excellent job explaining all the key elements and systems found in Mirage, so you’ll get used to the game right away, likely after the game’s prologue.

So, these tips and tricks aren’t to not necessarily succeed in the game but to make things a tad bit easier as you progress through the main story.

Pickpocket as much as you can

Basim is a thief at heart, and his sticky fingers has become second nature to him that if you see any NPC with a highlighted pouch hanging behind them, that’s an opportunity to earn some cash.

I find pickpocketing as a vital source of money as any trinkets or items you swipe can be sold by a trader for a fair amount.

The real bonus for constantly pickpocketing is that you have a chance to get one of the three Favor Tokens in the game — Merchant Favor Token, Scholar Favor Token, or Power Favor Token. These are used to gather information for a mission, or ask a group to distract guards or help you slip past guards unnoticed.

If you constantly pickpocket, you’ll slowly have a good amount of these tokens stocked and ready to be used when needed.

• Related: Assassin’s Creed Mirage Review

Give the trader token to the vendors first for discounts

The first thing you should do when you are introduced to how favor tokens work is by giving your first Merchant Favor Tokens to any Trader you find. You can give the Trader vendor a Merchant Favor Token three times, and doing so will give you a 30% price reduction on their items.

This affects all Traders for the rest of the game. Definitely worth prioritizing as you’ll be visiting them quite often as they are the means to restock your tools and buy resources to upgrade your armor or weapons.

Don’t neglect the Throwing Knife

Throughout my time with the game, the Throwing Knife was the most versatile Tool that remained relevant, all the way to the final mission. There are so many applications for it that I spent my early skill points improving the use of the tool, like getting the Knife Recovery skill.

With the Throwing Knife, you can:

• Make a quick distraction

• Destroy barred windows

• make objects fall down to enemies below

• Take out enemies silently from afar

• Destroy doors barred from inside

If there’s one tool to invest in, the Throwing Knife will be it.

Turn off Aim Assist

Speaking of the Throwing Knife, my biggest gripe is that when I aim to throw it, the aim assist snaps to the body of my target, so I’ll spend the next second fighting against the aim assist to place the cursor at the head for an instant kill.

It can be frustrating, so it’s best to turn the feature completely off for better precision.

Scout ahead before every infiltration

This will naturally happen but it’s still a good reminder as marking enemies with Basim’s trusty hawk can give you a clear idea of the best route to infiltrate.

There are also some missions that give you different ways to get in easily by interacting with certain NPCs, but there are also hidden paths like a crack on the way where you can slip through or an underground path through a river. You’ll only encounter these paths if you look around, and most of the time it’s worth the time spent.

Get Smoke Bomb ASAP

I’m gushing all about the Throwing Knife, but there’s one more tool that is a must-have, and that’s the Smoke Bomb.

This is such a great tool not only because it gives you a quick escape but an easy way to kill enemies affected by its effects.

If a fight breaks out, throw a bomb to get them all stunned and confused, making them vulnerable to a silent kill with Basim’s hidden blade. I’ve cleared five guards with silent kills thanks to this tool, a trick that’s been around in the series for years.

Enigma Treasures reward outfit colors

When you pick up Enimga Treasure scrolls, take some time to figure out these treasure-hunt-like activities as each one rewards you with colors for specific outfits. All you have is the clue to work with, and it can either be a map with an ‘X’ on it showing the location or a vague message giving you an idea of where the reward might be.

You can find all your Enigma Treasure clues in your inventory when opening the bag icon.

Always prioritize the one running to call for help

When things go sideways, there’s always one guard that just runs to ring the bell found within the compound. When this happens, more guards will start spawning in the compound.

If you are planning to fight head-on, be sure to find the red bell icon above a guard’s head. He’s the running and you’ll want to kill him right away if you don’t want to fight more than you can handle.

Use your money to buy Components

Of all the resources in the game, the toughest one to gather are Components, which is mostly used to upgrade your tools and gear.

Don’t go cheap with your money as I find it better to spend it to pick up Components every time I get a chance as I always don’t have enough when I want to upgrade.

With the 30% discount on prices in place, you can get 100 Components for just 300.

Most of your weapons and outfits are found in gear chests anyway.

Barred door? Check for windows

When doing the various side activities, you’ll come across barred doors in a building. There is a chance there’s a window or another way to get in, but if can’t find any obvious solution, start looking for windows with wooden bars (shown above) that have big gaps in between them. These are usually an indicator that you can destroy something from the inside with your Throwing Knife.

I’ve encountered so many building that are only accessible if I destroy the lock barring a door with a throwing Knife through these windows.

Cracked walls and roofs can be destroyed with explosives

Most secrets in the game can’t be accessed unless you break your way in. If you see a wall or roof with red cloth and cracks, those can be destroyed using red pots, the game’s equivalent to red barrels.

When you find these vulnerable walls/roofs, start looking around for a red pot, those objects are usually close by for you to pick up and throw.

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