Ghost of Tsushima Tips & Tricks
A broad guide covering traversal tricks, resource farming, shrine progression, Iki Island priorities, and quality-of-life settings. Aimed at new players, returning players, and anyone preparing for NG+.
26 Tips · 7 categories
1 tipCombat
Light Pampas Grass on Fire for Ambushes
Once you unlock the Firecracker upgrade for the Windchime ghost skill, you can lure groups of enemies into pampas grass patches and ignite them all at once with a fire arrow. It's one of the most effective early crowd-control setups in the game.
7 tipsExploration
Tap Dodge to Reset Jin's Sprinting
If Jin runs out of stamina and slows to a walk, tapping dodge immediately resets the sprint so you can keep moving at full speed. The trick is small but saves noticeable time during long traversal sections on foot.
Cross Deep Rivers Faster With Dance of Wrath
The Dance of Wrath mythic ability can be activated on water, carrying Jin across rivers and ponds far faster than swimming. Resolve isn't consumed outside of combat, so this trick costs nothing and saves significant time whenever you need to cross open water.
Follow Black Swarms of Birds to Haikus
Black bird swarms circle above hidden Haiku composition spots. Following them leads you to these locations, where you can compose a haiku and earn a new headband. They're less obvious than the golden guiding birds but equally reliable once you know what to look for.
Follow Fireflies to Vanity Cosmetic Items
Swarms of fireflies or butterflies indicate a nearby vanity item, usually a new sword appearance. Equipping the Traveler's Attire gives you a permanent firefly companion that tracks these items passively while you explore.
Loot Secret Stash Near Cloud Ridge Shrine
In the Act II region near the Cloud Ridge Shrine, a seaside cave accessible by a short swim contains a hidden stash of iron, steel, and other resources. There is also an additional discovery outside the cave worth finding on your own.
Fast Travel to Force Daytime
There's no direct setting to change the time of day. Fast traveling a few times to random map locations advances time by a random amount each trip. A few quick fast travels are usually enough to get back to daylight when nighttime visibility is causing problems.
Play the Flute to Change the Weather
The flute can shift stormy or dark weather to something calmer. It's easy to forget this feature exists, but it's worth using when bad weather makes exploration less enjoyable.
4 tipsSettings
Enable Armor Loadouts in Gameplay Settings
Turning on Armor Loadouts in the Gameplay tab lets you share the same charm across multiple outfits without manually swapping it each time. Each loadout also remembers your chosen mask and headgear, so switching between combat and stealth setups becomes a single button press.
Turn On Enhanced Guiding Wind Setting
Enhanced Guiding Wind makes the wind trails much more visible at all times, not just when you trigger the guiding wind manually. With this setting on you can navigate by wind direction without needing to activate the feature as often.
Switch Flash Bomb Effect to Dark
By default, enemy flash bombs produce a bright white screen flash that can be genuinely disorienting mid-fight. Switching this effect to Dark in the settings converts it to a dark screen instead, which is far less disruptive during combat.
Enable These Combat and UI Settings
Projectile indicators flag off-screen archer attacks before they land. Enhanced combat cues make the red and blue weapon flashes on enemy attacks more prominent. Aim assist helps with bow accuracy. Setting mini game controls to Simplified makes bamboo strikes easier on a controller. The alternative control scheme maps light and heavy attacks to R1 and R2, and increasing camera speed helps during fast combat.
8 tipsProgression
Keep Completing Inari Shrines for Major Charms
After filling all your minor charm slots, continuing to honor Inari Shrines still rewards you. Completing 20 total grants the Charm of Inari's Might, which boosts health and melee damage. Completing 24 adds the Charm of Silence, which reduces enemy detection and increases resolve gains. Every four shrines beyond that upgrades these charms further, up to three times each.
Complete Spring Falls Shrine for the Parry Window Charm
Shinto Shrines are straightforward climbing puzzles that each reward a gold charm. Spring Falls Shrine gives the Charm of Mizu-no-Kami, which widens the timing window for parries, perfect parries, and perfect dodges. Getting it early makes the combat system considerably more forgiving.
Liberate Act I Villages for Iron and Steel
After reaching Castle Kaneda at the end of Act I, a wave of Mongol-occupied villages and farms appears on the map. Liberating them rewards steel, and the villages contain more iron and steel scattered around to loot. It's the most efficient early source for both materials.
Upgrade Your Katana Before End of Act I
Between liberating villages, buying gold from Trappers, and collecting settlement gifts, you can reach near-maximum katana level by the end of Act I or start of Act II. The damage increase at higher levels makes a noticeable difference in every fight from that point on.
Earn Gosaku's Armor Through Village Liberation
Six keys for the Unbreakable Gosaku mythic tale are scattered across the liberatable farms and villages. Completing that quest rewards Gosaku's Armor, one of the strongest sets available in early Act II. Prioritizing the correct villages during liberation gets you the full key set quickly.
Visit Iki Island Right After Starting Act II
The Iki Island DLC opens immediately after Act II begins and contains some of the best gear and abilities in the game. Clearing the Gosaku armor quest first and then heading straight to Iki sets you up with a strong kit for the rest of the main story.
Pursue Sarugami Armor at Fume's Refuge
Sarugami Armor widens the timing windows for perfect parries and dodges, increases their effectiveness, and significantly boosts resolve gains when upgraded. Start the Legend of Blackhand Riku mythic quest at Fume's Refuge to obtain it. Pairing it with the Charm of Mizu-no-Kami makes perfect parries even easier to land consistently.
Max Iki Legend Level for the Charm of Versatile Skills
The Charm of Versatile Skills is earned by maxing out your Legend level on Iki Island. It doubles the effectiveness of all equipped minor charms as long as they belong to different categories. This makes it one of the most powerful passive multipliers in the game.
4 tipsEconomy
Farm Infinite Silk Using Restart Exploit
In Yagata Forest, a small campsite has a piece of silk on the ground. Make a manual save, exit to the title menu, continue back in, and loot the silk and nearby leather. Then open options and choose Restart from Last Checkpoint. Both items respawn, so repeat until you have enough. When finished, leave the items on the ground before exiting the campsite or the trick becomes unavailable on that save.
Farm Infinite Linen West of Golden Temple
A small building in the village just west of the Golden Temple always has two linen on its shelves. Apply the same manual save and restart checkpoint loop from the silk farm to collect linen indefinitely.
Sell Excess Bamboo to Afford Gold Trades
Bamboo accumulates faster than most other resources, especially with the Charm of Inari from Arrow Peak Shrine equipped. Selling the surplus keeps your supply reserves healthy so you can trade with Trappers for gold without draining them dry.
Check Settlement Gift Altars for Free Resources
Settlement gift altars provide free resources whenever you progress quests in that area. Hovering over a settlement icon on the map highlights the gift altar in gold if a gift is currently available, so you can check at a glance without visiting each location.
1 tipEndgame / NG+
Complete Activities in First Playthrough for NG+ Ghost Flowers
New Game Plus replaces the rewards of any activity you already completed in your first playthrough with Ghost Flowers, the NG+ currency used to buy new cosmetics. Completing as many activities as possible in your first run, including easy collectibles like sword cosmetics, means more Ghost Flowers available from the start of NG+.
1 tipCosmetics
Buy Dyes From the Black and White Merchants
A white dye merchant is located in the Act I region and a black dye merchant in Act II. Both are worth visiting if you want clean, high-contrast looks for your gear. There are many dyes available throughout the game, but these two are among the most popular.
Verified: 2026-05-24 · All content is original with full credit to original creators.