Assassin’s Creed Odyssey complete gameplay guide

Optimize your weapons and armor with engravings to boost damage, critical chance, and utility. Choosing the right combination for your build can dramatically improve your combat efficiency.

Hunter Engravings

• Focus: Increase critical chance and damage from range.
• Recommended Engravings:
  • Critical Chance Increase
  • Damage to Isolated Targets
  • Poison Damage (if using bows with poison)
• Tips: Pair with light armor and Hunter skills for maximum effect.

Warrior Engravings

• Focus: Maximize melee damage and survivability.
• Recommended Engravings:
  • Damage with Heavy Weapons
  • Damage Reduction
  • Spartan Kick Bonus
• Tips: Combine with heavy armor and Warrior abilities to dominate melee fights.

Assassin Engravings

• Focus: Enhance stealth attacks and critical assassination.
• Recommended Engravings:
  • Critical Damage
  • Damage to Isolated Targets
  • Rush Assassination Bonus
• Tips: Works best with Assassin tree skills and light/medium armor.

Match your engravings with your build and playstyle. Upgrade regularly to stay effective against tougher enemies and maximize your DPS.

Engravings guide for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Engravings are one of the most powerful mechanics in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. They allow you to customize weapons and armor with special bonuses that directly affect damage, survivability, and playstyle. Choosing the right engravings can completely transform your build, making you more effective in combat and exploration.

The key to mastering engravings is synergy — stacking bonuses that match your chosen build (Hunter, Warrior, or Assassin) and adapting them to the enemies or missions you face.

How to unlock engravings

• Leveling up: Many engravings are unlocked automatically as you gain levels.
• Completing challenges: For example, achieving 100 headshot kills unlocks new bow engravings.
• Finding ancient steles: Hidden across Greece, these unlock permanent engraving options.
• DLC content: Extra engravings can be unlocked through DLC missions and expansions.

Tip: Always check the Blacksmith to apply or update engravings on your gear. Upgrading weapons without engravings often leaves you weaker than you could be.

Hunter engravings

Focus: Maximize ranged combat, critical strikes, and poison damage.

Recommended engravings:

• Critical Chance Increase
• Damage to Isolated Targets
• Bow Damage
• Poison Damage (if using poison arrows)
• Headshot Damage

Tips:

• Pair with light armor for high mobility.
• Always strike from a distance before enemies can react.
• Combine with Hunter abilities like Predator Shot and Overpower Bow Strike.

Warrior engravings

Focus: Improve melee combat, survivability, and crowd control.

Recommended engravings:

• Damage with Heavy Weapons
• Warrior Damage
• Damage Reduction while Full Health
• Spartan Kick Bonus
• Spear Damage

Tips:

• Use with heavy armor to tank damage.
• Perfect for players who prefer charging into large groups of enemies.
• Combine with Warrior skills like Second Wind for sustain and Overpower Attacks for burst damage.

Assassin Engravings

Focus: Boost stealth, critical assassinations, and mobility.

Recommended Engravings:

• Critical Damage while Full Health
• Damage to Isolated Targets
• Assassin Damage
• Rush Assassination Bonus
• Damage at Night

Tips:

• Use light or medium armor to stay silent and fast.
• Focus on eliminating high-value targets without being detected.
• Combine with abilities like Critical Assassination and Shadow Assassin.

Hybrid engravings (universal choices)

Some engravings work well across all builds:

• Adrenaline per Hit (keeps abilities ready).
• Fire Damage / Poison Damage (elemental attacks are strong vs mercenaries).
• All Damage % (solid boost for any build).
• Health & Armor % (adds survivability).

Pro Tip: Even if you specialize in one build, mixing in a few hybrid engravings makes you more versatile.

Common mistakes with engravings

1. Ignoring upgrades — engraved weapons need to be reforged at Blacksmiths to stay relevant at higher levels.
2. Mixing random bonuses — don’t scatter bonuses; focus on stacking similar effects for maximum power.
3. Neglecting defenses — full damage builds often fail against tough bosses; always keep at least one engraving for survivability.
4. Forgetting DLC engravings — expansions add some of the strongest bonuses; don’t miss them.

Final Tips

• Adapt engravings to your mission. Stealth engravings are best for assassination contracts, while heavy melee bonuses shine in conquest battles.
• Change engravings often they are not permanent. Adjust them to fit your evolving playstyle.
• Keep experimenting. Sometimes an unusual combination (e.g., Assassin + Hunter engravings) creates powerful hybrid playstyles.

With the right engravings, you can turn any weapon into a lethal tool and any armor set into a powerful support for your build. Mastering engravings is the key to surviving the toughest mercenaries, cultists, and mythical beasts in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.