Level Up Quickly In 'Assassin's Creed: Origins' with These Tips and Tricks

Assassin's Creed Origins is proving to be the most vibrant, and engaging game that Ubisoft has launched for the franchise in a few years. Exploring the desert sands and lush river vegetation has been absolutely superb, and the seemingly endless collection of murderous bandits, power-hungry soldiers and wild creatures has only added to the excitement that Assassin's Creed Origins has brought to the franchise.

With Assassin's Creed Origins being the largest map that players have ever explored, there are countless adventures to be had, treasures to be looted, weapons to be wielded and stories to be told—all while making Egypt your personal playground. Here is everything you need to know to level up quickly and effortlessly.

Tip #1 : Your Companions Are Your Partners In Egypt

Assassin's Creed Origins brings along a plethora of companions to which you can partner with throughout the game. During the main campaign you'll earn the ability to experience Bayek's story through the eyes of his wife, Aya. Although these missions are specific and don't allow you to explore beyond certain areas, it adds some interesting depth to the game that Assassin's Creed Syndicate started by introducing two assassins to play as.

Within the game, Bayek will come into contact with several animals who can assist in his quest to rid Egypt of the corrupt powers that be. First and foremost is Senu, Bayek's trusted feathery counterpart who will aide you in countless ways throughout your game. Senu can be utilized as scout, distraction, and loyal companion at nearly every point in the game. Along with Senu comes the variety of traveling companions that you can discover, or purchase, along the way. Everything from a loyal camel to the fastest horse—these animals will come in handy when reaching Tip #2.

Yet, these are not the only animals who can join Bayek on his journey. Once you've advanced far enough in the Seer Ability Tree, you can unlock the ability to tame animals after putting them to sleep with a sleep dart. Imagine taming a lion or jaguar and traveling across the desert. (More on this ability and others further on in this list.)

Tip #2: Explore The Expansive Desert

Ancient Egypt is seemingly without limit in Assassin's Creed Origins, and figuring out how to see exactly how expansive it is can seem overwhelming at first. Yet, exploring the world outside of the missions can be one of the more essential elements of the game, as it gives you access to a much more complete view of just what Bayek is fighting for.

Synchronization points, aka Viewpoints, much like every other Assassin's Creed game, will allow you to add insight and useful information to your map of the desert before you begin your travels across it. Surveying the map with the available 58 viewpoints will add countless new areas to explore and will help you track down a seemingly endless supply of treasure and loot, as well as enhance Senu's vision range.

Wandering the desert alone will obviously make for a very long trek, but once you find a faithful steed to travel on you'll be able to reach the far corners of the desert much faster. And using your connection with Senu will allow you to scan ahead and see where your enemies may be lurking or setting traps.

Tip #3: Start with a Balanced Skill Tree

Many games with an RPG-style skill tree will be playable by focusing on one particular branch, and technically Assassin's Creed Origins can be played regardless of how you utilize your ability points, but starting off by beginning each of the three traits (Hunter, Warrior, & Seer) will make the game feel more fluid moving forward as you need to unlock certain skills to advance through achievements and certain missions.

Much like any RPG-style game, each branch in the tree will have unique and powerful abilities as you progress. Your first instinct is going to be to focus on one particular tree considering that each clearly focus on one area of the game:

• Hunter: builds your archery and stealth skills
• Warrior: focuses on your melee attacks and weapons
• Seer: increases your tool efficiency and marketplace skills

Depending on how you want to play Assassin's Creed Origins, it would make sense to spend your ability points on mostly one skill tree, but by balancing out the skills you'll have a much simpler playthrough.

Tip #4: Farm Egypt For Gear And Materials

As you level up in the game, it's vital that you keep your gear updated as well since a level 5 weapon will only go so far when facing off against a level 20 opponent. Looting gold is one way to bolster your pockets to purchase new weapons and upgrades, but more useful is the ability to farm for resources.

Throughout Egypt there are countless animal dens, bandit hideouts and roaming carts with supplies—and all of these offer a nearly limitless supply of gold and materials to farm. Animals dens will prove to be one of the most beneficial resources on your journey across Egypt. Many dens will have one "king" animal that you must kill (this will give you a location completion as well as additional XP to level you up, but even after killing the king you can return to each den to farm the base level animals for materials.

• Hyena (Siwa, Giza, Nome): soft leathers
• Ibex (Siwa): soft leathers
• Cobra (Nome): venom
• Lion/Leopard (Nome, Faiyum): pelts and skins
• Hippopotamus (Lake Mareotis, Nome): hard leather
• Crocodile (Most river areas): hard leather
• Vulture (Siwa, Lake Mareotis, Nome, Faiyum): absolutely nothing

Farming the animal dens can, at times, allow you to collect 10-20 leathers/skins at a time, which become pivotal in upgrading your equipment. Farming these animals will also give you loot drops of trinkets, skulls and various other resources that be sold to vendors for gold.

Tip #5: Find Every Hidden Tomb (There Are 19 Total)

Tombs are an invaluable piece to the puzzle that is Egypt. There are various tombs hidden across the desert that can be discovered. Each tomb contains valuable loot, ancient tablets, and the ability to activate an ancient mechanism that offers a connection to the future (because of course it does).

Not all of the 19 Tombs will contain an ancient mechanism, as there are only 6, but each requires a specific amount of silica to activate. Silica is a treasure that can be found in every Tomb—but by using your Animus Pulse you'll be able to see countless other hidden treasures and lootable items throughout the Tomb. Many of the tombs have puzzles which need to be solved in order to learn the secrets of the hidden mechanisms and sometimes to find a truly unique treasure.

This wouldn't be an Assassin's Creed game without some sort of crypt/puzzle/trial style achievement, and Assassin's Creed Origins has created several difficult ones, with hopefully more to come with the Season Pass as new content is available.