The combat of Ghost of Tsushima is as stylish as it is lethal. The gameplay takes after the narrative, which hinges on the idea that Jin Sakai can become the legend that quells an entire invasion. Having survived the slaughter of all other samurai on the island, he must carry their torch alone as a ferocious warrior worth a hundred men. For me, it’s one reason why the game feels like such an epic fantasy; the game constantly reminds you, in its vivid way, that you don’t just fight like a one-man army, but you are a one-man army. And katanas are cool.
Now, those are some big shoes to fill. The Mongol enemies can put up a pretty united front, complete with archers and spearmen, and at higher difficulties, they’re plain scary to fight. Players should strive to incorporate the game’s more niche offensive tools and abilities into their play style to turn the scales and vindicate the game’s fantasy in complete style. In this advanced Ghost of Tsushima combat guide, rather than explain the basics, I’ll outline the tricks I’ve picked up that will help add more domination and novelty to your journey to become the peerless Ghost.
Ghost of Tsushima Combat Techniques and Tips
Learning to master the combat mechanics in Ghost of Tsushima is step number one in liberating your home from the Mongol invasion!
Why Use Standoff
Meet your enemies head-on. This is the best way to start any fight in this game without stealth. The main reason is that you gain massive Resolve for every enemy you kill in Standoff. We’ll explore Resolve more later, but the important thing is that it’s a combat resource essential for the player’s survival and swordplay. So, a Standoff is an invaluable guarantee of high Resolve when the player starts combat. Players who write off this mechanic as just a good-looking way to lose stealth are seriously missing out. It’s both practical and good-looking!
Another reason is that it’s an easy opportunity to thin the herd, killing multiple enemies like nothing before you enter combat. Most players don’t realize that you can control which enemies approach you based on who’s closest to you, so Standoff can also be used as an easy way to kill generals or other elite enemies. But beware, enemies that are more advanced in actual combat are also more advanced duellists.
How to Standoff
To win Standoffs, you must wait to strike your opponent at just the right moment when they charge at you. But before this, they will feint and shout, tempting the player to attack too early as a reflex. If you fail a Standoff, you don’t die but take extreme damage. More challenging enemies will feint and charge quickly, making your timing more precarious. So here’s the trick: look at your opponent’s feet. When they move position, you can be 100% sure they’re open to strike, so watch for foot movements and strike quickly! And it’s the opposite for subsequent opponents; they begin by charging at you, and it’s only when they raise weapons that you should attack:
Mythic Techniques: Heavenly Strike
Resolve starts as just an essential healing resource. The player will have to complete a type of quest called Mythic Tales to unlock extraordinary sword techniques that use Resolve. Dance of Wrath is a technique that costs 3 Resolve, releasing three powerful un-blockable strikes in succession across a fair distance. It’s unlocked in Act 2.
But Heavenly Strike, a technique that only costs 1 Resolve and is available in Act 1, is the player’s actual bread-and-butter move. I think it’s so useful to unlock this new offensive move that heading over to complete this quest is the very first thing you should do in the open world:
Heavenly Strike releases a single, unblockable strike similar to its older brother, Dance of Wrath, but there are a few unique benefits. Firstly, it’s more flexible to use, as it’s faster and can be used in many situations where Dance of Wrath would be a waste. Part of this flexibility is that it functions as a perfect finisher move because it deals more damage to staggered enemies. It’s also a good combo extender, keeping up attack tempo before your regular moves slow you down. But the trick to it is that it gives the player I-frames during its activation, unlike Dance of Wrath, so use it to negate outright attacks that confound you or catch you off guard. For Boss Duels, which all rely on pure swordplay, it’s everything:
Similarly, you can parry even during regular attacks if you’ve mistimed it.
Mythic Techniques: Dance of Wrath
Of course, Dance of Wrath is helpful as well. To begin with, both moves share fear effects. After you’ve used them, surrounding enemies will pause in fear, and the intelligent player capitalizes on this moment to deal damage. With the right upgrades, enemies killed with these moves will trigger a Terror effect that can potentially scare enemies into fleeing from the fight altogether. If Dance of Wrath is set up well, e.g., by softening up three enemies with a Ghost Weapon, you can kill three enemies in a flash and proc Terror super fast. And I don’t even have to explain how cool it is:
Ghost Weapons
Ghost Weapons are somewhat busted if you consciously try to use them at every opportunity. They’re gadgets specializing in interrupting the enemy and dealing with group damage. They are canonically how the Ghost becomes so overpowered that he can strike fear into an entire army. It’s the same deal as Batman. So use them when you’re in a bind, and the enemy is surrounding you a little too well; their primary function is to compensate for your numbers disadvantage.
As mentioned above, tools like Kunai and Sticky Bombs combine well with Mythic Techniques because they soften the enemy and give you time to activate. Kunai are great for killing archers or bombers, who have less health. But another trick is to use your explosives in tandem with the explosive barrels you’ll find littered throughout busy outposts. Using explosive barrels or bombs alone will typically fall short of killing enemies in one swoop because they’re so effective at interrupting anyway. But use your bomb to trigger the environmental bomb, and you’ll create the lethal explosion you want to see:
Related: How to Use Photo Mode in Ghost of Tsushima
Mobile Melee
Some of you will know that sprinting gives you access to unique attacks, a Sprint Strike that’s quick and damaging, and a Shoulder Charge that’s a great utility attack. It deals excellent Stagger damage and sends enemies flying to the floor, even brute enemies in the middle of attacking. But less will know about the Jump Attack, and even fewer about the Jump Kick. Then there is Delayed Strike, a slow and challenging attack that barely any players use despite subtle benefits like its distance and Stagger. Use these attacks to catch enemies off guard regardless of your Stance. The only caveat is that they can’t be used repeatedly on the same enemy; they’ll start pushing you off:
Stance Adaptability
Stance is indeed essential to your control of the battlefield. Many enemies keep their guard up consistently or attack through your attacks. This is why dealing enough Stagger damage to crack through enemies’ guard is essential to combat in Ghost of Tsushima. Stances act as a counter to specific enemy types because their heavy attacks break their particular guard and Stagger them. All that is to say, the basic order of using the right Stance for the right enemy is fundamental to combat.
However, at a more advanced level, you can successfully experiment with mismatching your Stance to your enemy. Take advantage of the moveset that’s best for the situation rather than the enemy. Part of this is identifying that if you time your attacks well against certain enemies, you can cut them down with any stance. Delayed Strike works well with this tactic:
You can incorporate jump attacks using the vertical terrain or jumping over sweep attacks. The combat in Ghost of Tsushima is more of a sandbox than many players realize. I’ve demonstrated some of the dynamic applications of Stance signature attacks below:
Ascendant Samurai
Once you’ve mastered the above, you should be ready to dominate Tsushima. Continue to develop your knowledge of enemy behavior. Combo all of these together to create an incredibly stylish killing stream:
I’ll end by talking about Ghost Stance. It’s a super mode you unlock in Act 2 story missions that require the player to kill several enemies without being hit. It’s one of the game’s best mechanics that essentially rewards players for their ability to kill enemies decisively and efficiently. It works like a domain expansion that leaves all enemies too scared to move, allowing you to strike down 3 of them instantly. Activating it is the ultimate vindication of your legend and combat prowess. My greatest trick is to use it in a way similar to Heavenly Strike, treating it as an emergency button that completely negates whatever attacks were coming my way, opening up attackers for the kill:
The Guide Hall aims to master the combat in Ghost of Tsushima and bring in-depth guides like this one. We’ll have more from the lands of Tsushima shortly!