There's much to experience in the massive open-world of Ancient Greece in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. But as is tradition, the Assassin's Creed series has a very strange way of blending historical accuracy with bizarre supernatural elements--and Odyssey is no exception. While you'll mostly take on pirates, foot soldiers, and the sinister members of the Cult of Kosmos throughout the various locales around the world, there are some encounters that will take some extra effort to find--leading to Odyssey's most memorable fights against beasts of legend.
In this feature, we breakdown Assassin's Creed Odyssey's most involved and unique quest-line, which pits you against some various mythological beasts that reference Greek mythology, including the deadly Medusa and the Cyclops. In addition to giving you all the details on how to find them, we also offer up some tips on how to overcome their unique challenges. Obviously, there are some spoilers in this article, which relates to the midpoint of the game. Proceed with caution.
Where To Begin
To start your epic quest to vanquish the four mythological creatures hiding out within Ancient Greece, you'll need to reach the midpoint in the main Odyssey quest, which takes you to island of Thera, just north of Messara. After solving the puzzles to gain entry into the ruins, you'll meet a very important character inside, who will give you a new Odyssey quest-line called Between Two Worlds. This quest tasks you with finding four lost Isu artifacts that have been stolen, which are now hidden across the known world of Greece.
While you may get the urge to drop everything and set out to complete this quest after the cutscene's finish, you're much better off holding off until much later into the main story. Not only will you have the proper gear to take out some of the harder challenges, some of the legendary gear that drops from these quests will also become more powerful. We'd recommend you finish the main story, which will take you through many of the islands and locales that house these lost artifacts. What follows is the best order to take on these creatures, based on level.
The Sphinx And Where To Find It
Marked as level 35 quest, the Lord of the Sphinx mission tasks you with finding an artifact hidden in Boetia. Located on the southern coast of Lake Koapis, you'll find ancient Isu ruins shrouded in fog. At these ruins you'll find a discover a Sphinx statue and an NPC named Gorgias, who's searching for a piece of a medallion to unlock the secrets of the temple. Tasking you to find his apprentice, you'll start the next leg of the quest, which will have you travel to the Tomb of Menoikeus. Located in the northeastern part of the Scorched Rolling Plains region in Boetia, you'll find the remains of the apprentice, killed by a nearby alpha lion--which has also eaten the other half of the medallion. After securing the piece, head back to the ruins to proceed with the next part of the quest.
Once you return, you'll find that Gorgias and the statue are missing. Before proceeding further, be sure to save your progress. Taking the piece of the medallion that Gorgias left behind, you'll be able to place the item on a pedestal in the ruins, which will summon the mythological Sphinx. Surprisingly, you won't engage in an actual fight with the Sphinx, but rather a game of careful wits. After conversing with the beast, the challenge begins. You'll only have one chance to clear this encounter, as offering an incorrect solution to the puzzles will result in instant death. Moreover, each subsequent reload of your save will see a different set of riddles offered up.
Think carefully before giving your responses to the Sphinx's questions, as your answers also apply to several runes scattered around the ruins, which have to be activated after the riddles are complete. If you can't find the rune assigned to your given answers, then you'll meet certain doom. After making it through the riddles correctly, you'll best the Sphinx at its own game and collect your first artifact, along with a legendary Sphinx Figurehead for your ship.
The Cyclops And Where To Find It
You'll likely be aware of the location of this particular mythological beast early on into your adventure. Found on the Isle of Thisvi just south of Phokis (one of the first areas you go to after getting your ship), you'll find the ancient Isu ruins after diving into the Forgotten Isle's inner cove. However, the door leading to the mythical Cyclops is sealed, and will remain so until you take on the necessary quest. At a recommend level of 35, the quest that opens the chambers of the Cyclops is located on Kythera Island, towards the southernmost edge of the map. Head to the region known as Pilgrim Hill to find a quest giver near a statue, opening up the mission A God Among Men. By taking this mission, you'll eventually Empedokles, who believes himself to be a god. After assisting him throughout the Island, he'll venture off to the Isle of Thisvi to meet a fellow god.
Once you head back to the small island, head into the island's underground to find Empedokles outside the door, who's ready to reunite with his fellow god. Suffice it to say, things don't work out for Empedokles, and you're left to do battle against the mythological creature. As one of the largest enemies in the game, the Cyclops--also known as Brontes, The Thunderer--has an advantage when it comes to range and raw strength. However, the boss' slow speed and lumbering movement can be taken advantage of. You can also aim the obvious weak spot of its glowing eye with your ranged attacks, dealing some solid damage. Halfway through the fight, the Cyclops will become more aggressive, resulting in some falling debris throughout the chamber. Keep chipping away while avoiding the falling the rocks to take him down. After the fight you'll acquire the next artifact, and along with the Polyphemos Cyclops Bludgeon, a legendary heavy blade.
The Minotaur And Where To Find It
Located in Messara, on the island in the southeast section of the map, you'll come across a small town in Minotaur Hills that worships the mighty beast. This area serves as a great place to learn more about the history of the region, level up, and gain some new gear--including a replica helmet of the Minotaur (which is just a bull's head fashioned into a helm). Just west of town, you'll find Knossos Palace ruins located in Mino's Legacy. In this area you'll find a child named Ardos, who's trying to rescue his father lost in the chambers of the Minotaur below the palace. Starting the Myths and Minotaurs quest, you'll learn more about the labyrinth and discover that you'll need to find the medallion to open up access.
From here, you'll begin the Of Minotaurs and Men questline, which includes sub-quests around the region including Blood in The Water, Recollections, and Full Circle. Along the way, you'll interact with the allies of Ardos' father, local merchants, and assist the boy's current caretaker. The questline involving the caretaker will have you cross paths with the Swordfish, who just so happens to be a member of the Cult of Kosmos. After completing these tasks, you'll acquire the key to the labyrinth of the Minotaur. While exploring the maze, you'll find the body of Ardos' father, and not long after, encounter the mythological beast.
The battle with the Minotaur can be quite challenging, which requires you to be at least level 40 to make a successful go of it. In this battle, you'll have to dodge many of the Minotaur's attacks and head in for an opening when its vulnerable. Its most powerful move is a ram attack, which you can fortunately see coming. The beast can also stun itself when it rams against an obstruction, allowing you to get some solid hits in. Staying and attacking at a distance is also an effective way of getting the upper hand against the beast. Once you defeat the minotaur, you'll get the next artifact and a new legendary axe known as the Minotaur's Labrys.
The Medusa And Where To Find It
For the final mythological beast, you'll need to travel to the island of Lesbos, located in the northeastern corner of the map. At this point in the game, you'll likely have finished the main story before traveling to this island, which is one of Odyssey's most difficult areas. To start the quest, head to the town of Eresos in the Petrified Valley, which is located on the southwestern coast of the island. In town, you'll find a female NPC named Bryce. After conversing with her, you'll start the quest Romancing the Stone Garden, which tasks you with finding her lover lost in the Petrified Temple. After learning more of the Temple and its mysteries, you'll need to new quest called Shadows of Serpents, along with all of its sub-quests that to open the pathway to the Medusa.
These side-quests will take some time to finish, as they'll have you travel across Lesbos and to the nearby island of Chios. One mission has you infiltrate a village full of female hunters, all of whom are lethal archers and agiles fighters. However, if you already completed the Artemis quest-line involving the hunt for legendary animals, your choices in that mission can allow you to become the leader of the village, letting you come and go without incident. The other quest has you track down an adventurer who's made the dubious claim that he wields the spear that killed Medusa. After completing the necessary steps, head back to the temple to open up the way to Medusa's lair.
The battle against Medusa is Odyssey's most challenging and complex encounter. Choosing to fight at range with a squad of stone mercenaries at her side, the Medusa can petrify targets--namely you--while also calling in aerial attacks that deal heavy damage. In order to remove her protective shield, you'll need eliminate her guards, all while avoiding her petrifying gaze and magic attacks. Throughout the room are several stone pillars, which can offer safe protection from her gaze. After taking out the minions, the beast will become vulnerable, allowing you to deal direct damage to her. During this state, the Medusa will teleport around the arena and immediately follow-up with a ranged energy attack. This will be a long fight, so be patient and stick with a certain rhythm of attacks, both ranged and close-range, and eventually you'll take out Odyssey's most difficult boss--earning you the final artifact and the legendary sword Harpe of Perseus.
If you want to know more about Assassin's Creed Odyssey, check out our full-review, along with our breakdown of some useful tips to help you along your journey in the game.
A new in-game event is now underway in Pokemon Go. With the Legendary Psychic-type Mewtwo now available in standard Raid Battles, the developer is giving players the chance to capture even more Psychic Pokemon with the Psychic Spectacular event, which kicked off on October 5 at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET and runs until the same time on October 14. [Update: The Psychic Spectacular event is scheduled to end today at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, making this your last chance to catch Psychic Pokemon more easily.]
During the Psychic Spectacular event, Psychic-type Pokemon such as Abra, Ralts, Baltoy, Slowpoke, and others will appear in the wild much more frequently than they normally do. Additionally, Niantic is rolling out more Field Research tasks revolving around Psychic Pokemon; completing these will help bring you closer to achieving a Research Breakthrough and crossing paths with Suicune.
On top of that, players will have a chance of finding Shiny Drowzee during the event. This marks the first time that Shiny versions of Drowzee have been available in Pokemon Go, so you won't want to miss your chance to capture one. In contrast to standard Drowzee and Hypno, which have yellow fur, their Shiny variants are pink.
As previously mentioned, Mewtwo is now appearing in standard Raid Battles after previously being restricted to the invite-only EX Raids. The Legendary Psychic-type will be available as a Raid Boss until October 23. Meanwhile, the Mythical Pokemon Deoxys has now begun appearing in EX Raids, although you'll need to receive an invitation in order to participate in one of those battles.
Pokemon Go players will be able to get their hands on another rare Psychic Pokemon a little later this month. October's Community Day is set to take place on Sunday, October 21, and it will feature the Steel/Psychic Pokemon Beldum. Niantic has yet to reveal what special attack it will be able to learn during the event, but dataminers have previously discovered the move Meteor Mash--Metagross's signature attack--within the game's code.
The weekend is upon us, which for Destiny 2 players means that Xur--the mysterious merchant who's here to either delight or disappoint you--has arrived. He's got another slate of Exotic items for sale, which you have a limited time to buy. Here's where to find Xur and what he's selling for this week.
Xur's Year 2 appearances have seen him return to his same old locations, and this visit is no different. Right now, you can find Xur on Titan. Head to the The Rig landing zone, turn left, and make your way through the open building. Once you reach the next wide open area, turn left again and drop down one floor. You'll find Xur hanging out in a building, as seen in the map below; you can also watch our video above for guidance on how to reach him.
In terms of items, it's the standard lineup: one Exotic armor for each class, and one Exotic weapon. The weapon is Tractor Cannon, the Portal gun-looking shotgun that prevents affected enemies from using abilities and makes them take more damage, especially from void. More entertainingly, however, it also blasts enemies backwards.
For armor, Titans get the Synthoceps gauntlets, which increases how far you can lunge with a melee attack and provides you with more melee and Super damage when surrounded by enemies. Hunters can pick up the Gemini Jester leg armor, which provides your dodge with some added perks: it disorients enemies and causes their radar to disappear temporarily. Warlocks can grab the Sanguine Alchemy chest armor; this buffs your Rift to provide you and allies with some enhancements. This includes being able to see your radar when aiming down sights and visual markers being placed on powerful enemies. You might already own this armor, but bear in mind that these are Year 2 versions that feature more perks than the versions from Year 1 you might have.
Alongside these specific items for sale, Xur offers the Fated Engram. This is expensive, at 97 Legendary Shards, but it guarantees you a Year One Exotic you don't already own, so it's a good way to fill out your collection, provided you can afford it.
Although this week didn't bring with it much in the way of new content, aside from the latest Ascendant Challenge, there is a lot coming soon. Tuesday, October 16, will see the release of the first of two big updates launching for the game this month. This patch will coincide with the debut of Festival of the Lost, Destiny 2's Halloween-themed event, as well as the next instance of Iron Banner. Unlike the first instance of the multiplayer activity after Forsaken's release, this one will have easier bounties, and each one will offer a piece of Powerful gear as a reward. For more on what's new in the world of Destiny, check out our guide to the latest weekly reset.
Ever since Bethesda Game Studios announced the next game in the Fallout series, it's been difficult to get a sense of what Fallout 76--an online-only RPG--is all about. While the concept of an online Fallout experience is enticing, it also comes into conflict with the series' typical brand of role-playing. Though Fallout 76 does lessen those traditionally single-player details to a noticeable degree, it offers up an alluring opportunity to explore uncharted, irradiated territory with other players online.
With the pivot to multiplayer, Fallout 76 focuses a lot more on exploration and survival in West Virginia's Appalachia, with all its regional oddities and newfound horrors coming in large doses. Recently, we played three hours of the game ahead of the game's upcoming October beta, and spoke with developers from Bethesda Game Studios about the particular challenges of making a different kind of Fallout.
During the first hour, I got my bearings by taking a tour around the immediate area, even joining a group to take in all the sights. Fallout 76 has the familiar RPG mechanics and sense of exploration that the series is known for, but it also has more of an amusement park vibe--with several key attractions and locales clearly highlighted on the map, such as The Greenbrier Resort and the Top of the World ski-slope. While exploring Fallout's take on West Virginia, which is several times larger than the Commonwealth of Fallout 4, I got the feeling that I was sort of experiencing the greatest hits of all things Fallout. First came the familiar weapons and armor found from previous games, then came the feral ghouls, the Super Mutants, and references to the Brotherhood of Steel and Enclave.
Still, the new location in West Virginia feels totally different from Fallout 4's Capital Wasteland and the Mojave from New Vegas, which quickly introduces its own brand of locales and strange monsters that reside there. Along with weird monsters like enlarged ticks, three-headed possums, and even Mole Men, there are other monsters that reference West Virginian urban legends. This includes the headless, hulking Grafton Monster and the enigmatic Mothman, the latter of which is revered by the hostile cabal of Scorched, heavily irradiated humans who eventually evolve into ghouls of sound mind.
For the most part, combat and general movement handle similarly to Fallout 4. However, the new mechanics and survival systems at play felt somewhat overwhelming to get a handle during our introduction. In 76, much of the tutorial happens in a trial by fire scenario in the open world, where you'll have to follow the early moments of the quests closely in order to learn the new mechanics, all while fighting off enemies and scavenging resources. While I appreciated the quick pace at which players are whisked out of the vault, picking up some meager supplies along the way, I felt that the on-boarding process could be a bit more detailed--it made me feel mostly unprepared as I was scrambling to find any weapon I could get my hands on.
With the new online focus, some returning mechanics have seen some changes. For instance, Fallout's iconic V.A.T.S.--allowing you to target enemies and fire off precisely-aimed shots--now operates in real-time. It acts more like a real-time lock-on--with your weapon's hit-rate adjusting depending on the enemy's movement or their surroundings. This style of V.A.T.S. definitely took some getting used to. Mostly to the fact that enemies move around often, and combined with the awkward focus of the V.A.T.S. camera, it was jarring to actually use it during a fight. Because of this, I mostly stuck with standard aiming and shooting, which felt more reliable during engagements. While you can upgrade V.A.T.S. with perks to make it more effective, it feels more like an option that should be used sparingly.
Fallout 76's survival mechanics take many cues from Fallout 4's more challenging Survival mode. In addition to keeping your character well fed on a regular basis, you'll also have to avoid ailments and diseases--such as contracting the oddly named but still troubling Rad Worms. Some enemies and locations even carry specific diseases, which create added risks to watch out for when exploring. These illnesses range from diseases that sap your maximum health, action points, and the general damage resistances for your character, to even increasing your susceptibility to radiation.
With a large emphasis on survival, nearly every item and resource you can get your hands on feels much more valuable. Nothing really lasts too long in Fallout 76--even the buffs from Bobbleheads and skill magazines only last a short time--so every tool you have will inevitably be discarded for something new. As you're scavenging through the open world, you'll find junk items, scraps, and crafting plans that can be turned into new gear and building materials for your constructions. Some of these materials can create bizarre weapons like the Heated Pitchfork or Ski-Sword--a single ski sharpened to form a blade. But over time, weapons and armor will eventually need to be repaired or broken down into materials for other items. Moreover, cooking and chem stations now have a greater importance, allowing you to prepare meals and craft support items.
Character growth is still the core part of Fallout 76, and it offers an impressive amount of variety and flexibility. After leveling up, you can place points into the familiar categories of the SPECIAL system, each of which boost areas of your character's raw stats. Eventually, you'll acquire a pack of Perk Cards that can offer special buffs in their assigned categories. For example, the Gladiator perk card is a Strength card which increases damage with melee weapons, while Lead Belly can decrease the radiation from drinking contaminated water. The more points you have in a category, the more Perk Cards you can potentially slot in, giving you a whole suite of added buffs. At any time, you can swap out your set of Perk Cards to readjust your character, to better prepare for different challenges.
In keeping with the game's focus on pioneering, the building mechanics from Fallout 4 also return. Now known as the C.A.M.P. system, you have in your possession a mobile construction device that allows you create a building at any time--provided that it doesn't overlap with existing structures. You have free rein to construct whatever you like, whether that be subtle safe-houses for you to stash supplies, or even larger mega-structures that house turrets and a dedicated place to relax. If you ever want to pack up and move elsewhere, you can save your structure as a blueprint and dismantle it. This can come in handy if your chosen spot becomes too popular with other players.
The biggest point of contention with Fallout 76's online nature is its lack of NPCs and slimmed down story, now serve to highlight the focus on moment-to-moment engagements with enemies and other players. This lack of traditional interactions and storytelling felt more noticeable the deeper we dove into the world. While you're certainly free to play solo and avoid other players--and we definitely took the opportunity to strike out on our own, leading to those familiar moments of solitude and wanderlust, you'll always be a potential target within the online world.
Having said that, I couldn't help but feel intrigued by the re-focus here. Lore and smaller doses of story are still in surprisingly ample supply, but told passively through the environment and journals scattered about. While there are no active NPC characters to find--with exception to roaming robots that can offer trades and intel--you'll eventually stumble across the bodies of long-dead survivors who have had a notable presence in the world. In their possession are special holotapes known Survivor Stories, detailing the last moments of their lives in the irradiated wilderness.
These stories told some interesting tales for the characters in Appalachia, which had some poignant and heartfelt moments to them--which was reassuring given the fragmented nature of the storytelling in 76. Speaking with design director Emil Paglliarulo, he elaborated on their refocus to make Fallout more about engaging with others players.
"We started off with the premise where the only other people you see are the ones that came from the vault," he said. "We've also never had the opportunity to do a game that's set twenty-five years after the bombs fell, it's always been two-hundred something years after. Now, we have the stories of the people that survived the initial war, and we've never been able to tell those stories before. Of course without NPCs or no dialog trees--which was a huge adjustment for our quest designers, as they were used to doing it a certain way--and now the lore-heavy stuff comes from holo-tapes, which now has its own tab in the Pip-Boy. That's been really interesting for us. And what ended up happening is that we ended up having a much more lonely story than in Fallout 4. All of these people that you do [learn about] are dead already, and it's almost like a weird ghost story. We didn't expect that."
Whether you want to play solo or within a group, player interaction is a big part of the game. Encountering another person after rounding the corner or reaching the end of a dungeon creates some genuinely tense feelings--not knowing what intentions the other player in front of you has. To communicate with others, Fallout 76 features a variety of in-game emotes to use and proximity based voice-chat. During our session, however, we used Xbox Live's party chat client to stay in constant communication with our group--which won't be the case for most players online.
When playing in groups, communication is important, and the emotes and proximity chat are a great way to get your point across. This is especially vital when grouping up for some of the more active quests that task you with overcoming some bizarre obstacles, such as finding the keys to an armory in a makeshift town built out of a destroyed aircraft, or finding out a mob of "unruly golfer feral ghouls" at a ritzy resort that's still maintained by protectotrons. This can lead to some humorous and equally tense moments where players are scrambling to rely on their team's special skills to progress further.
Once you reach level 5, Fallout 76's PvP systems open up. When you encounter another player that's over level 5, you can fire your weapon at them to let them know of your intentions. If they return fire, then you'll both engage in a duel, with the loser dropping their current haul of junk items--no caps or gear is lost after a defeat. When shooting at a player that hasn't engaged in response, all damage will be cut in half, which gives them enough time to react. It's possible to kill another player who is not into the idea of fighting, and appropriately enough, this backhanded approach will mark you as a murderer, painting a massive target on your back for all players in the world to see.
Our group of level 5 explorers tried to take down a level-58 player in power armor in similar fashion, but it didn't go over well at all as he easily decimated the group with a high-powered Tesla Rifle. While damage calculations scale for enemies, allowing low-level players to potentially take out monsters several levels ahead of them, it does not for PvP engagements. However, if you wish to avoid PvP, or if a player is bugging you too much, you can block them or fast-travel to safety fairly easily. So far, the system in place is a thoughtful way to overcome the potential harassment that can often spring up with this type of game.
To cap off our hands-on time, the developers launched a nuke, which obliterates specific areas of the map. We all had front row seats to the explosion, and then proceeded to jump into the ensuing fallout--with its heavy radiation promptly killing us off one-by-one. As one of the larger end-game goals in Fallout 76, activating a nuke can lead to new events in the irradiated areas, revealing rare materials and dangerous enemies to fight. It also highlights the more dynamic nature of Fallout 76, with many of its narrative touches informed by the player's decisions in the world.
The scale of Fallout 76 seemed impressive based on the first few hours. The location of West Virginia--and all its oddities--was exciting to dive into, which felt refreshing after coming off of Fallout 4's Commonwealth. However, much like previous Fallout games, there were a number of odd bugs and large frame-rate dips that occurred throughout. This was especially noticeable during larger fire fights against large groups of enemies, which brought overall performance down to a slog. The developers we spoke to, however, assured us that the performance will be improved in time for its November 14 launch.
76 certainly isn't like other Fallout games. After our three hours, I got the impression that Bethesda is taking a risky approach with the series in regards to its lore and its core gameplay. With its heavy focus on survival gameplay and the online experience, I suspect that this largely experimental take on Fallout will become a rather polarizing entry. Though the mechanics were somewhat overwhelming to get a handle of, I can't deny that I enjoyed exploring the large map and engaging in the mysterious, post-apocalyptic take on West Virginia. Fallout 76 looks like it can flourish in the long-term, and I'm interested in what can come about after many hours in its off-kilter and ever-changing setting.
No comments:
Post a Comment