Don't sleep on: Ghost of Tsushima Legends
08/17/22 — by George Smrekar
Pop quiz. Ghost of Tsushima released on July 17 2020 to critical/ commercial acclaim. Shortly thereafter on October 16 2020, Sucker Punch released Legends as a free multiplayer add-on. Question: how awesome was that? The answer is very. Very awesome. Legends took a chance, and managed to click with critics and fans alike. Then it stuck around long enough to go through some permutations, adding even more bang for the buck. What we have now, is only the best 1st party co-op PvE on PS5. Smooth frames, active servers, Gyozen the storyteller’s color commentary. It’s a quality production through and through. Various themes, swordplay and verticality from the campaign carry over, making it a unique island in an ocean of shooters. Still on the fence about multiplayer in your single player? Let’s turn that frown upside down.
First a primer. Legends is comprised of story, rivals, raid and survival modes. We’ll be focusing on the meat ‘n’ potatoes here. The bread ‘n’ butter. Survival mode. You and a team of up to 4 will be cutting a swathe across 6 maps in total (2 added post-launch). The objective is zone defense while surviving 15 waves (not counting the preliminary round) of incoming hordes. Class based enemies including archers, heavies and the supernatural will bum-rush one of three different regions (sometimes simultaneously), trying to capture a circle. This could be a farm, a beach etc. Lose too many circles (and by proxy, your life bar) and it’s game over. Sort of a cross between king of the hill and domination with a Nioh coat of paint. Hellish blood dyed skies and porous environments bleeding out an endless drip of Demons and Mongols. The Escalation mode from High Moon’s Transformers games with a samurai sensibility. Every so many waves is a boss rush with additional hazards and Oni/Yokai. Survive that and you’ll regain whatever life bar you may have lost in previous waves. It escalates from there up to a max of 15 rounds (lowered from 25 at launch for gold). You’re looking at a half an hour per session. Used to take up to an hour, so it’s far more accessible now.
At your disposal is an arsenal of looted gear comprised of ranged/melee weapons, stances, skill tree customization and supernatural abilities of your own. You’ll be mixing and matching equipment buffs with weapon modifiers before you know it. In-game there’s a unique currency that you can spend on one-off boosters as well. From setting enemies ablaze to summoning your own spirit animals. These boosters can turn the tide in a clutch and should be used strategically. Make sure you spend what you’ve got before the last boss.
What do you get for your troubles? Glorious loot of course! Reward tiers go up after every boss round and add to your pot at the end of the game. Winnings are divvied up between levelled gear (from common to legendary) and currency (essence, honor, blessing) which is used to reforge and reroll said gear. There are daily and weekly challenges to top up your bank account too. Increasing ki (your level) increases the difficulty available to you and thus the quality of drops. Of note, a new platinum difficulty was added post-launch and sits between gold and nightmare on the scale. Binding has also been added which allows you to complete mastery challenges, which will level a specific item past their max up to 120. Cursed gear has also been added to the RNG, which applies a debuff ala Halo Skulls that reward you when they’re cleansed. They’re cleansed by completing a specific challenge which you can reroll. It’s all quite layered and can go as deep or surface level as you’d like.
As you play, you’ll eventually unlock all four characters and can start creating builds. These characters or classes are themselves quite balanced and complimentary to each other. You’ll soon be able to stack various buffs together such as the Hunter’s ultimate headshot combined with helmet piercing. Here are some build examples to give you an idea:
Samurai: your frontline. The tank. A focus on melee and attack power. Hachiman’s Fury is a great Ultimate with i-frames. At level 11 you can equip a technique (see skill tree) that allows for an additional 2 strikes. Consider adding the spirit pull ability to siphon health from a nearby enemy, the deep strikes perk for increased melee damage by 25%, and a perk 2 of your choice. I currently have my resolve increased by 1, banking for a faster hachiman’s fury. A Master’s Katana equipped for access to all the stances, a melee charm with combat regen, a fired up sticky bomb ghost weapon for AoE and a healing gourd strong brew for rejuvenation.
Hunter: the archer. A focus on ranged attacks. Consider combining the Eye of Uchitsune ultimate with the all-seeing-eye perk for an additional 2 target locks. Combine with piercing arrows to penetrate shields, the explosive arrow ability and 2 legendary items if you have. I use the Master’s Katana all-stances with the weightless spirit bow with helmet piercing ammo. Properties include faster draw speed, extra dmg and no drop on arrows.
Ronin: the healer. A bit squishy (won’t be leading for kills at the end of a match) but all-in for team defense. You can stack the Breath of Izanami ultimate with soothing breath to revive all downed allies at a distance and/or apply a heal over time for 8 seconds. There’s increased resolve for more breath potential and healing incense which is a must for groups after every round. Teamwork makes the dream work. I recommend Kenji’s shared brew (legendary), an AoE healing gourd with strong brew and 25% injured resolve gain. This gives your healer 3 different ways to spam health.
Assassin: the ninja. A focus on stealth/ hit and run tactics. Consider shadow strike and toxic vanish with chain vanish to replenish invisibility after a kill. Mist of Yagata is a legendary smoke bomb that also heals allies. A fired up sticky bomb is good for AoE with an assassin charm for extra stealth dmg and a blowgun with hallucination darts. Lots of potential with damage over time and crits. Mod as you see fit.
Now that you have some ideas, how do you access Legends? Truth is, you might already have it. It’s a free add-on if you already own the base game and was also available as a standalone PS+ freebie a few months ago. Once you’re in, there are no additional fees. No microtransactions, no season passes or battle passes, cosmetics are all earned in-game. Some campaign cosmetics also carry over to multiplayer, plus there were some free PlayStation cameo skins including God of War and Horizon among others. If you picked up the Director’s Cut for the Iki Island expansion, that’ll net you some more swag as well.
Final tips: In later rounds, you’ll have two outposts invaded at the same time. Be mindful of wandering off too far on your own. If you’re downed, on higher difficulties that can wipe the whole team if no one gets to you in time. A good strategy is to split up into two teams of two. Whichever team finishes their defense first will reinforce the other team. Just hold the line as long as you can. Save the health drums for later rounds when you really need ’em. If you’re in trouble, remember to use the canned chat to call for help. The hud is good at displaying who’s low or bleeding out, but in the chaos of it all it’s still possible to miss. This is where a good healer can be invaluable as their ultimate can revive the entire team from anywhere on the map.
There you have it. The rest is up to you. For all intents and purposes, Legends is a hit. This bodes well for future iterations and support. In the meantime, if you wanna get the jump on the GoT2 competition, there’s no time like the present. In case you haven’t heard, Sony is doubling down on multiplayer development with several titles reportedly in the works, including a followup to The Last of Us Factions. Prep yourself with a primer on one of the best ones going. Don’t sleep on: Ghost of Tsushima Legends.
