Assassin's Creed Origins: Complete Guide

A guide to Assassin's Creed Origins on PC in 2026: combat and stealth fundamentals, ability tree priorities, gear and crafting, the main regions and DLCs, side activities, achievements, and the fixes that keep the game running on modern Windows.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Title Update 1.62 (January 14, 2025), which fixed compatibility with Windows 11 24H2. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• It's an action RPG, not a classic AC game. Enemies have levels. Anyone 4+ levels above you is very dangerous, and stealth assassinations may not one-shot higher-level targets.
• Use Senu, your eagle, constantly. Scout camps from above, tag enemies, spot treasure and objectives, and find each location's captains and chests before you go in.
• Do side quests. Main quests alone won't keep your level up. Side quests give most of the XP and the best story moments.
• Upgrade the Hidden Blade first. Crafting upgrades raise your gear's power. The Hidden Blade upgrade directly affects whether stealth kills work on stronger enemies.
• Pick up animal hides and materials. Hides, wood, bronze, and iron feed gear upgrades. Hunt the animals your next upgrade needs.
• Fast travel from synchronized viewpoints. Climb them to reveal the area and unlock fast travel.
• Choose Hunter, Warrior, or Seer skills to suit your style, but grab the universally useful early skills first (see below).
• Patch the game. Windows 11 24H2 broke older builds. Title Update 1.62 (January 2025) fixed it.

Story and Setting

You play Bayek of Siwa, a Medjay, in Ptolemaic Egypt around 49 BCE, alongside his wife Aya. The story covers the civil war between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII, the shadowy Order of the Ancients, and the founding of the brotherhood that later becomes the Assassins, known here as the Hidden Ones.

Main regions (not a complete list) include Siwa, Giza, Memphis, Alexandria, the Faiyum, and Cyrene, plus deserts, the Nile delta, and many smaller nomes.

Combat

Origins uses hitbox-based combat. It's closer to a light soulslike than the older counter-kill system.

Action | Notes

Light attack | Fast. Builds your Adrenaline gauge.

Heavy attack | Slower. Breaks guards.

Shield / parry | Parry at the moment an attack lands to open the enemy up

Dodge / roll | Invincibility window. Essential against heavies.

Overpower attack | Spends a full Adrenaline bar on a weapon-specific finisher

Bows | Four types: Light (rapid), Hunter (precise, zoom), Warrior (shotgun-style), Predator (long-range sniper)

Weapon classes:

• Swords: balanced
• Sickle swords: fast
• Dual swords: very fast
• Heavy blades: heavy
• Heavy blunts: heavy
• Sceptres: heavy
• Spears: reach

Try a few and keep one fast weapon and one heavy weapon.

Rarity: Common (blue), Rare (purple), and Legendary (gold). Legendary items carry unique perks. Gear can be leveled up to your current level for Drachmas at a blacksmith, so a favorite weapon never has to become obsolete.

Combat tips

• Always lock on to the most dangerous enemy and keep others in view.
• Brutes and shield-bearers need heavy attacks, or a dodge followed by attacks to their back.
• Use fire (firebombs, fire-effect weapons) and poison on groups.
• Pull enemies one at a time with arrows or whistling before you commit.
• Mounted archers and elephants are optional high-level challenges. Leave them for later.

Stealth

• Crouch in tall grass and bushes to stay hidden.
• The Hidden Blade's power relative to the target's level decides whether an assassination kills. Upgrade it regularly.
• Use Senu to tag every enemy in a camp before you move in.
• Clear captains quietly to cut off alarms and reinforcements.
• Sleep darts and smoke tools from the ability tree make stealth much more forgiving.

Ability Trees

Three branches:

Tree | Focus | Good picks

Hunter | Bows, stealth, Senu | Predator Bow control skills, stealth-kill upgrades, tools for scouting

Warrior | Melee, adrenaline, survival | Parry and combo upgrades, adrenaline and Overpower improvements, extra health skills

Seer | Tools and utility | Sleep darts, Firebombs, animal taming, and other tool and economy perks

Early priorities for most players:

• More Adrenaline or Overpower-related melee skills (Warrior). These make fights safer.
• Bow improvements you'll use every fight (Hunter).
• Chain Assassination and other stealth-kill upgrades if you like stealth.
• Tool skills such as Firebombs and Sleep Darts (Seer) for groups.

Every level gives an ability point, and optional activities give more. By the endgame most builds have the essentials from all three trees.

Gear Crafting

Crafting uses animal hides and basic materials (wood, bronze, iron) that you gather or buy. Upgrade targets include:

Gear | Effect

Hidden Blade | Stealth assassination damage. Top priority.

Breastplate | Health / defense

Bracer | Melee damage

Arrow quiver | Arrow capacity

Tool pouch | Tool capacity

Tip: check which hides your next upgrade needs, then hunt those animals. Some upgrades want hides from dangerous predators like hippos, crocodiles, or big cats.

Side Content

Activity | Notes

Viewpoints | Sync to reveal the area and unlock fast travel

Locations (camps, forts) | Complete objectives (captain, treasures) for XP and loot

Tombs and pyramids | Explore for Ancient Tablets and ability points

Stone Circles | Align constellations at night

Papyrus Puzzles | Riddles that lead to treasure

Arenas | Gladiator fights with bosses and Legendary rewards

Hippodromes | Chariot racing

Phylakes | Roaming bounty hunters sent after Bayek. Hard fights for Legendary loot.

Reda, the traveling merchant | Sells Heka chests and offers daily and weekly quests

Legendary animals and optional challenges | End-game fights

Main Story Outline (Spoiler-Light)

The main quest alternates between Bayek's hunt for the masked Order members responsible for a personal tragedy and Aya's role in Cleopatra's bid for the throne. Each Order target is known by an animal name. The Hyena is one of them, and it has its own achievement. Main quests carry recommended levels. If you're under, do side quests in the current region first.

DLC Expansions

DLC | Setting | Notes

The Hidden Ones (January 2018) | Sinai | The brotherhood fights the Roman occupation. Raises the level cap.

The Curse of the Pharaohs (March 2018) | Thebes, plus afterlife realms | Undead pharaohs and mythological afterlife areas. Raises the level cap again.

Both are included in the Gold/Season Pass editions. The base game's level cap is 40, The Hidden Ones raises it to 45, and The Curse of the Pharaohs raises it to 55.

Free Extras

• Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt (added in 2018) is an educational, combat-free tour mode with guided tours of the world. It's also sold separately.
• Animus Control Panel (PC, April 2018) lets you tweak game parameters. It launched with dev presets Hardcore Stealth, God Mode, and Mad World. Patch 1.5.1 added a recommended Hit'n'Roll preset. Some options are disabled during certain missions to avoid breaking quests.
• New Game Plus was added after launch. It lets you replay the story with your gear and progression.

PC Setup and Fixes (2026)

• Windows 11 24H2: Title Update 1.62 (January 14, 2025, about 230 MB) fixed compatibility problems with Windows 11 update 24H2. Make sure Steam has updated the game before troubleshooting anything else.
• Ubisoft Connect is required. In March 2022, the Steam version got a newer Connect installer to fix install issues. If the launcher fails, reinstall Connect.
• Performance: the game leans heavily on the CPU. Lower crowd density, clutter, and shadows before cutting resolution.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Rushing main quests underleveled. Enemies several levels above you become sponges and can two-shot you.
• Ignoring Hidden Blade upgrades. Stealth stops working on stronger targets.
• Selling Legendaries without reading their perks. Many build around one playstyle.
• Forgetting to level gear up at blacksmiths. Paying to bring a favorite weapon to your level keeps it viable.
• Fighting Phylakes early. They're high-level and hunt you down. Avoid them until you can handle them.
• Wasting Drachmas on Heka chests early. Upgrades and leveling your gear matter more.
• Skipping Senu scouting. Tagging a camp first makes everything easier.

Advanced Tips

• Predator Bow sniping: with the right Hunter skills, you can guide arrows and clear camps from long range.
• Overpower plus a heavy weapon can instantly kill or stagger dangerous enemies. Build your adrenaline on trash mobs and spend it on elites.
• Animal taming (Seer) turns a nearby predator into a temporary ally in camp assaults.
• Arena and Phylakes loot: some of the strongest Legendary gear comes from these fights. Save them for when your build is ready.
• Achievement cleanup: the "Serqet's Carapace" and "Sting in the Tale" achievements are tied to completing all the Serqet-related locations. Patch 1.5.1 fixed a bug that could stop them unlocking.
• Nightmare difficulty changes the game a lot. Stealth and parry skills become essential.

FAQ

How long is Assassin's Creed Origins? The main story takes roughly 30+ hours. Completionist runs with both DLCs run much longer.

What's the level cap? 40 in the base game, 45 with The Hidden Ones, and 55 with The Curse of the Pharaohs.

The game crashes on Windows 11 — what do I do? Update to Title Update 1.62 (January 2025), which fixed Windows 11 24H2 compatibility. Then verify files in Steam.

Do I need Ubisoft Connect? Yes. The Steam version launches through Ubisoft Connect.

What order should I play the DLC in? The Hidden Ones first (set a few years after the main story), then The Curse of the Pharaohs. Both work best after you finish the main campaign.

Is there New Game Plus? Yes, it was added in a post-launch update.

Sources

• Assassin's Creed Origins on Steam
• Steam news — Title Update 1.62 and older patch notes
• Animus Control Panel announcement (Steam news)
• Wikipedia — Assassin's Creed Origins