Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey truly went all out with its RPG elements and player-specialization. There are three Skill Trees in Odyssey: Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin. This allows you to spec yourself into the play style you want to embrace. Whether you want to be a skilled archer, tanky warrior, or stealthy assassin, Odyssey has you covered.
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One aspect that made Odysseydifferent from Originswas the way in which you can select your abilities. Instead of having all skills active, you can now match specific abilities with button prompts of your choosing. The following abilities are standouts among the rest. Some may complement your build perfectly, while others are a jack-of-all-trades that you can use in any play style. Here are the best abilities in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
Updated November 4, 2022 by Daniel Furn: Ubisoft’s flagship IP might be heading in a new direction with Assassin’s Creed Mirage, but plenty of fans are still enjoying Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, now that the game has been added to Game Pass and PS Plus Extra. Newcomers – and even returning players – may be a bit overwhelmed by the many abilities available in the game, so we’ve updated and finalized our rankings of the very best abilities to spend your points on.
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18 Weapons Master
One of the passive abilities in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Weapons Master may not be flashy, but it definitely should not be ignored. The ability awards 20 percent extra Warrior Damage, which especially in the early stages when your level is low will be a huge boost and will improve the damage of all your Warrior abilities without taking up a slot.
Weapons Master only gets better with upgrades – once fully upgraded the ability will increase Warrior damage by 40 percent and raises crit chance with all weapons by ten percent.
17 Shadow Assassin
Shadow Assassin works in much the same way as Weapons Master but for Assassin damage, boosting that stat by 20 percent initially and 40 percent when fully upgraded. However, this is arguably more useful – assassinations famously don’t kill enemies straight away if you are too low level, so this could make all the difference next time you’re playing stealthily.
However, when fully upgraded assassinations then gift you an extra adrenaline segment, which will come in use if you are spotted.
16 Shield Breaker
You'll encounter a lot of enemies in the game that carry huge shields. It can quickly get really frustrating trying to get around them, or to parry and trick them into showing their back, so you can kill them.
Shield Breaker is an excellent ability that lets you, as the name suggests, break their shields. Once you upgrade it twice, it gets to be so powerful that it can severely damage your enemy with 250 percent power and the shield will explode into shrapnel that can then harm any nearby enemies, too.
15 Overpower Bow Strike
For those that enjoy using their bow in combat to pick off enemies quietly, the Overpower Bow Strike is a fantastic ability. When you upgrade it to the final tier, the move will charge an arrow that delivers 1,500 percent Hunter damage.
Not only that, but it explodes when it reaches its mark, meaning it releases even more damage via the various arrow shards being sent towards your enemies. It's perfect for anyone skilled in archery.
14 Spartan Kick
Not only is this move extremely powerful once it is fully upgraded, but it's also very fitting considering you're a Spartan - and it's a lot of fun to execute. With Spartan Kick, your character will deliver an incredible blow to your opponent with their foot. Not only that, but you can kick enemies off cliffs, buildings, ships, and more with this move, sending them plummeting through the air.
It won't kill your target since it leaves you the option to recruit them, but it will put them on the brink of death once you upgrade the move. The final upgrade delivers a hit so intense, it creates a shockwave that can also harm nearby enemies.
13 Call To Arms
Have you ever been in the middle of a fight and suddenly find yourself overwhelmed by the number of enemies you're facing off against? This is especially relevant if you accidentally slip up and let yourself get sighted, losing your stealth advantage.
Call to Arms gives you the ability to invite a lieutenant into the battle that will distract your enemies while you regroup. If you enhance the ability to the maximum level, the lieutenant will be enraged and even more powerful.
12 Death Veil
For those who are skilled Assassins and enjoy killing while remaining undetected, Death Veil is an invaluable skill. However, it takes a while to achieve, as you won't be able to use it until you reach the Master Assassin branch of the skill tree.
That said, what makes Death Veil so cool is that it allows you to assassinate any opponent and then make their body impossible to detect. Instead of stressing about hiding the bodies to keep your cover, the ability cloaks them for you.
11 Venomous Attacks
You’ll want at least elemental ability in your skill tree, so the choice is yours between Venomous Attacks and Flaming Attacks. There’s not a huge amount of difference between the two, but we’re leaning more towards Venomous Attacks – as well as inflicting Poison Damage to the opponent, the ability also weakens the damage and armor of the enemy over time.
The enhanced version of the ability available in the DLC is even better, however – Blessing of Kronos awards fifty percent more adrenaline while dealing damage as well as proving a rather cool light effect for your weapon.
10 Battlecry Of Ares
The Battlecry of Ares ability is almost the exact same as Kratos’ Spartan Rage in God of War. For up to 20 seconds, you can deal 50 percent damage. To make this even more powerful, all attacks received increases the damage while active. Also, all enemy attacks are non-lethal. The damage boost is always appreciated, but this skill is mainly needed to keep yourself from dying if you feel you are in danger. If that one boss is absolutely relentless, do not hesitate to activate Battlecry of Ares since it requires no Adrenaline.
The enhanced version available in the DLC is even better - Ares Madness grants you Leonidas's unbroken spear which has great range and even goes through shields, at the cost of a shorter active time.
9 Critical Assassination
Critical Assassination is just a more powerful version of your Assassination ability. Still, an extra 300 percent damage on your Assassination is sure to be helpful in stealthy situations. If you see an elite enemy with a huge amount of health, this ability can sometimes one-shot them, depending on your Assassin damage.
It is also useful for going up against Mercenaries. Even if you can’t completely take them out with Critical Assassination, a huge chunk of their health will be taken out, making it an easier fight from the start.
8 Second Wind
Second Wind allows you to automatically regain health upon activating it. This ability is the most well-rounded, since it is used in almost every build. Considering Odyssey doesn’t have any sort of health-packs, Second Wind is an absolute must-have.
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You’ll get the most use out of it during Conquest and Boss Battles. Since these bosses hit hard, you’ll be thankful you have a quick pick-me-up when you get bashed out of nowhere by a boss’s strike. The enhanced version, Ares Last Breath, is even better, however - obtainable during the second chapter of The Fate of Atlantis DLC, this upgrade makes you immune, automatically parries attacks and restores five percent of damage dealt as health for ten seconds.
7 Sixth Sense
Sixth Sense gives you an eight-second window to react upon getting caught by a guard. You also get a 200 percent Hunter damage bonus during these eight seconds. This is great for Hunter players who prefer to play the game as sneakily as possible.
While this is technically a Hunter ability, it is practical for all other forms of attack. An enemy may spot you while sneaking, but you can easily run up to them and assassinate them within that time.
6 Multi-Shot
No one likes being swarmed in any video game. Multi-Shot is the prominent ability for managing crowd control. This lets you shoot up to eight enemies, with each arrow dealing 250 percent Hunter damage. Whether you’re in a Conquest battle, or you get caught in the middle of a fort, this skill will let you pick off a number of enemies at a time.
If you have a high crit chance in your build, this skill can actually be stupidly overpowered, almost to the point of being broken. The added bonus is that this ability is so easy to use, as you all need to do is aim and shoot at a group of enemies. Multi-Shot does the rest of the work.
5 Devastating Shot
Devastating Shot simply unleashes an arrow that can deal up to 400 percent Hunter damage (even more if your bow is fully charged). A fully charged Devastating Shot to an enemy’s head will always do an outrageous amount of damage, which tends to crit most of the time.
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This ability is great for just about any situation. Elite enemies and bosses are usually the perfect targets for Devastating Shot. Also, at three skill points, this ability will make basic enemies go flying back. If you see an enemy on the edge of a cliff or wall, feel free to shoot Devastating Arrow. The results are quite hilarious.
4 Ghost Arrow Of Artemis
This ability is just silly, for all the right reasons. This allows you to shoot a “ghost-arrow” that can go through just about anything, dealing up to 260 precent Hunter damage. When we say anything, we mean literally anything. For instance, this arrow can travel through a mountain if you have an enemy marked. Stealth is always the best course when using this ability.
The best part is that you can stay completely hidden after using it since enemies are not likely to know your location. You can even use this ability against Medusa by shooting through the pillars when you're avoiding her beam of light.
3 Hero Strike
While it is technically an Assassin skill, Hero Strike is great for Warrior melee builds. When activating this ability, you will sweep the enemy, and then bring your dagger into them as they go down. It’s best for using against Elite enemies since it does 100 percent Assassin damage on the enemy. Considering Assassin damage is always absurdly high, using this skill while in combat is a no-brainer.
You can even use this on giant bosses. It won’t actually do the sweep animation (although sweeping the Cyclops would be hilarious), but it will get the full amount of Assassin damage regardless. If you have the Fate of Atlantis DLC, Hero Strike can be enhanced even further with the Isu-Forged Warrior's Mace which comes with a legendary engraving that applies melee attack damage to nearby enemies also.
2 Rush Assassination
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Rush Assassination is an absolute requirement. Assassin builds tend to not be very tanky, which means you’re always going to want to stay hidden. However, sometimes a group of enemies is too close together, which means attacking one guard may alert everyone else. Rush Assassination is the ideal ability for this situation.
It teleports you towards an enemy to perform an assassination. At three points, it can do 150 percent Assassination damage. The added bonus is that you can chain it three times. If you have a high Assassination damage output, you can take out four enemies within a few seconds. They’ll never see it coming.
1 Slow Time
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Slow Time is everyone’s favorite ability for all builds. Who doesn't want to slow down time in a fast-paced game? Many use Slow Time against some of the more difficult bosses in Odyssey. Bosses like the Minotaur and Medusa are tough due to their quick attacks. Slow Time makes these boss fights way easier, since you’ll be able to get a good amount of hits on them before they can return the favor.
Not only will you get in more damage, but it’s also an efficient way to quickly build up Adrenaline. It’s especially effective if you don't have a high armor rating.
NEXT: Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Epic Boss Battles Everyone Needs To See