Bosses

Origins has two open world hunts, and the difference between them decides how you prepare. The Phylakes come looking for you, on their own schedule, in territories you might be crossing for another reason entirely. The war elephants sit exactly where they are until you walk into their camp. One of those you have to be ready for at all times; the other you can book in when you are strong enough.

The Phylakes hunt you

Ten bounty hunters are released into Egypt the moment you finish the Gennadios the Phylakitai quest, which happens during the Aya questline in Alexandria. They carry red icons, they show above the fog in uncharted territory, they usually ride, and the game gives you a warning cue when one is near. Each carries a legendary, and the mapping never changes, so the list below is also a shopping list.

Fighting one fairly is the worst way to do it. If your level is high enough you can simply assassinate a Phylake outright, and if it is not, the first job is separating him from whatever patrol he is walking past, because a stray captain turns a hard fight into a lost one. Knock him off his mount if you can. Loot the corpse afterwards or you leave the legendary on the ground.

Four of the ten are key carriers, and they are the reason the hunt is a questline rather than a checklist. The first Phylake you kill hands over a contract, and clearing all four key carriers gives you the ornamental keys that lead to a fishing village in Herakleion Nome, a woman named Abar, a crocodile problem, and an underwater chest holding the Black Hood legendary outfit. Full detail is on the Phylakes guide.

The war elephants wait for you

Four elephants sit in four camps, all of them level 40, and the page is blunt about the entry requirement: come at 36 or below and you are wasting a trip. Walking into the camp starts the fight immediately, so there is no scouting phase to speak of.

The fight gets harder as it goes rather than easier, which inverts how you would normally spend resources. Save your ammunition for the last phase, use melee early while the beast is still sluggish, and pick up the loot bags scattered around the arena to top up. The openings come when it turns or strafes. Qetesh and Resheph is the pair worth doing first if you want the Trophy Hunter bow, and Herwennefer's elephant pays out the Shaman outfit. Locations and tactics are on the war elephants guide.

One elephant is not on that list. The Battle of the Nile puts a level 31 one in front of you as a story fight, and it behaves differently from the four in the camps, so see the walkthrough guide for that. The arena roster in our locations guide is the third set of named fights in the game, and the items guide tracks where every drop above ends up. The Assassin's Creed Origins guide hub covers the rest.