Ghost of Tsushima’s combat system is one of the most exciting we’ve played in a video game this year. While it starts off somewhat simplistic, it grows in depth throughout the game and finishes with a range of different stances, special techniques, and unique weapons to make you feel like the ultimate samurai badass. Here we’re going to run through some Ghost of Tsushima tips & tricks that we’ve noted down after nearly 50 hours with the game over the past week.
Ghost of Tsushima Tips & Tricks For Beginners
Combat Basics
No doubt if you’re reading this guide then you’ve been through Ghost of Tsushima’s prologue and tutorial section, so you should have some grasp on the basics of combat. Still, it’s worth just reinforcing here what aspects of combat you should be focusing on improving from a skill point of view, as well as which techniques are likely to help you along the way.
As you may have already worked out, Ghost of Tsushima’s combat is a little like FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. It’s not nearly as punishing, of course, thanks to a longer window in which to parry effectively, but the similarities are a good place for us to start.
Learning to parry effectively with the L1 button is crucial in the early game. You need to focus on getting used to the timing of it and making it muscle memory. Your best bet is to get used to enemy attack patterns. Wait for them to make the first move, then quickly hit L1.
Since the parrying window is so much more forgiving than Sekiro, you can actually just tap L1 repeatedly when you think an enemy attack is coming.
“Perfect Parry” is a Technique in the Samurai Deflection skill tree that all players should invest in. Timing a parry effectively will reward you with useful Resolve. Resolve is used to both heal Jin and use Mythic Combat arts.
The only exception to tapping L1 during an incoming attack is when you see either a blue flash or a red flash on the enemy’s weapon.
Both are unblockable attacks that you must roll away from, though the Unyielding Sword Parry skill in the Samurai’s Deflection tree will allow you to block the blue ones. For now (assuming you are early in the game), use circle to roll away from these and reset.
But you don’t have to parry to beat an enemy in Ghost of Tsushima. Any enemy can be overcome by Jin’s heavy attacks, which are performed by hitting triangle in any stance. The trick is using the appropriate stance for each enemy…
