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Ghost of Tsushima lets one customize their playstyle by giving them choices in Jin's progression and what techniques he has available. If the player does everything there is to do, they will eventually gain access to all of Jin's best techniques in Ghost of Tsushima, but there are certain ones that can be incredibly helpful to have early on. These techniques make certain aspects of the game much more manageable, and as such, they should be obtained as early as possible. This holds for all players in any playstyle, as both stealth and open combat are forced sometimes, and players won't be able to rely solely on one or the other.
Every time the player completes a mission, rescues a hostage, or even defeats a patrolling band of Mongols, they will gain an increase in their legend. With each node, players are rewarded one technique point. Technique points in Ghost of Tsushima are earned by clearing certain forts as a bonus, and players with the Digital Deluxe Edition of Ghost of Tsushima will start with additional technique points. Unlocking powerful abilities with these technique points can shape how the player approaches the game, and missing these must-have techniques will make things much harder.
Updated September 18, 2022 by Michael Llewellyn: Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world samurai game that shares some mechanical similarities to the Assassin's Creed series. After the announcement of Assassin's Creed Project Red taking fans to Feudal Japan, the next best thing would be Ghost of Tsushima and its Iki Island expansion.
The way Ghost of Tsushima handles skills and techniques differ from the Creed series, adding a unique spin on combat and abilities. Thanks to the Iki Island expansion, Ghost of Tsushima adds more to uncover in the game's opening. The unlocked techniques are carried over into the main game once Iki Island is complete.
Wind Of Harmony
The Samuari technique known as Wind of Harmony is a new skill in Ghost of Tsushima and is accessible via the Iki Island expansion. On Iki Island, there are new Animal Sanctuaries with more charm rewards for Jin to discover.
Using the Wind of Harmony, Jin can locate the Cat, Deer, and Monkey Sanctuaries. These sanctuaries have a related charm to upgrade, and finding them all will unlock the Chiyoko's Song trophy.
Wind Of Concentration
The Wind of Concentration is the second new technique for Ghost of Tsushima's Iki Island. The ability allows Jin to locate the various Archery challenges on Iki Island.
As with the Wind of Harmony, the Wind of Concentration will upgrade Jin's related charm and archery skills. Achieving a bronze or higher score on all Archery Challenges will earn the Pride of Ishikawa trophy.
Horse Charge
The horse mechanics and the friendship between Jin and his mount are some of the most heartfelt in gaming. That bond grows stronger on Iki Island when the horse learns the ability to charge and trample his enemies.
The first mission Jin must complete on Iki Island is the Lost Friend quest. Jin will reunite with his horse and find that the mount has learned the Horse Charge Technique. By pressing L1, the horse will charge and crush Jin's enemies where they stand. However, be aware that the ability will cost Jin resolve points.
Unyielding Sword/Spear Parry
The Unyielding Sword Parry is attainable early on in the deflection tree and makes previously unblockable attacks deflectable with the parry. This is incredibly useful against enemies later in the game as they will begin to use a lot of unblockable attacks. Without this technique, players will be forced to dodge these attacks, which don't leave enemies open as much. This can also be very hard since Ghost of Tsushima doesn't have a lock-on feature. After attaining the Unyielding Sword Parry, it will be hard to remember how the player ever went on without it at first.
In the same vein, the Unyielding Spear Parry is equally (if not more) vital. This one will take a little bit more investment. Players will first need to get the Unyielding Sword Parry and Deflect Arrows, but both are great techniques. The reason why this technique is particularly important is that, without it, all spear attacks are unblockable. Players will be forced to dodge every attack coming their way from a spear, and one of the final bosses of Ghost of Tsushima will be much easier with this ability.
Deflect Arrows
It shouldn't take long for new Ghost of Tsushima players to figure out that one of the most annoying things in the game is the archers. Though they tend to be polite and announce to the world when they're about to fire, it can still be difficult to dodge arrows when trying to manage melee combat as well. Deflecting arrows makes this incredibly easy, as players simply need to hold down the block button and be immune to all arrows. The one exception to this is fire arrows, as if the player is standing in Pampas Grass, the grass will catch fire and burn them.
Iron Will
Iron Will is in Ghost of Tsushima's Evolving Tactics skill tree underneath Recover Health on the far left side. This technique is essential and should probably be the first one-player purchase. Normally, when the player goes down, they will either bleed out or be executed by an enemy, but this technique allows players to spend two resolves to get back up, albeit with very little health.
Regardless, this can be the difference between having to restart an entire duel or combat segment. Because of the cost, players will want to hunt down Bamboo Strikes across Tsushima to increase Jin's resolve.
Safe Landing
This technique isn't essential for survival, but it will drastically speed up travel time and the quality of life improvement it grants is hard to pass up. If the player presses circle just before landing from a high fall, they will roll and negate all fall damage.
This can make descending cliffs much faster as finding a route to climb down or looking for alternate ways down are completely negated. This still won't save Jin from absolutely lethal falls, but it does go a long way in making Ghost of Tsushima's exploration feel both easier and much more natural.
Strength Of Mountains, Tides, Gales, And Heavens
Ghost of Tsushima's four stances will play a pivotal role in combat throughout the entire game, and as such, they should be a priority for players. While some may find the upgrades for the stances to be lackluster, especially those that don't much like using the hold triangle attacks of each stance, the third upgrade node in each tree (Strength of Mountains, Tides, Gales, and Heavens for Earth, Water, Wind, and Moon respectively) should be obtained as soon as possible.
These increase the staggering damage caused by heavy attacks from the stance when used against the appropriate enemy, which can be incredibly useful, especially when paired with Gosaku's Armor.
Concentration
This is more specific to archery fans, but Ghost of Tsushima's Concentration technique can turn Jin into a death machine if used properly. While aiming, clicking on the left stick will slow time, giving Jin the space he needs to draw his bow, aim, and place a shot.
This can be useful in several situations, but when combined with the Mythic Armor of Tadayori and the Charm of Izanagi (which returns arrows after headshots), multiple Mongols can be killed with one use of this technique.
Chain Assassination Master Or Improved Standoff Streak
Both the Chain Assassination Master and Improved Standoff Streak effectively accomplish the same thing in different ways. Both techniques in Ghost of Tsushima allow players to kill up to three enemies before starting combat, but the former is more Ghost while the latter is more Samurai.
Both techniques are incredibly useful, but which one the player should get first is up to them. It's worth noting that when paired with the Sakai Clan Armor, players can kill as many as five enemies at once with a successful standoff.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now for the PS4 and PS5.