Items

Loot in Origins is randomised, which sounds like it makes gear hunting hopeless. It does not, because the pieces worth having are not random at all. A legendary reaches Bayek in one of four ways: something named drops it, a quest hands it over, a merchant sells it, or a riddle leads you to it. Work out which of the four your target sits behind and the hunt stops being a hunt.

The Four Routes a Legendary Takes in Assassin's Creed Origins

Named enemies carry the best of it

The Phylakes are the cleanest source in the game because the mapping is fixed: one bounty hunter, one legendary. The Outsider carries the Golden Wolf, a sword that heals you a little on every kill; Ra's Mercy carries the Storm Blades and their instant heavy charges; The Iron Ram carries Smoke and Mirrors, which occasionally sets people on fire. Their levels run from 20 to 40, so the list doubles as a shopping schedule. The bosses guide has all ten with the drop attached, and the war elephants are worth a mention here too, because putting down the pair at Qetesh and Resheph is the only way to get the Trophy Hunter bow.

The arena is the other fixed source. The Brothers hand over the Leviathan heavy blade, The Hammer pays out the Priest of Ma'at bow, and between them the Cyrene roster is where the Roman Legionary, Roman Marinus and Roman Venator outfits come from.

Quests pay in gear you cannot buy

Plenty of legendaries never appear on a shop shelf. Hepzefa's Sword falls out of the main quest that sends you to meet Aya at Siwa. Cyrene's Spear, four hundred years old and carrying a level 3 critical bonus, comes from A Bad Apple. The Bow of Wadjet is the reward for the Curse of Wadjet in Faiyum, and Jackal's Gaze, the all rounder warrior bow, comes out of Smoke over Water in Sap-Res Nome. On the cosmetic side the Black Hood is the payoff for hunting down every key carrying Phylake, and the Isu Armour waits behind all twelve stone circles and the last Ancient Mechanism.

Our legendary weapons guide lists the full roster by damage class with the source for each, and the outfits guide does the same for wardrobe, which splits neatly into tailor stock at 200 to 5,000 drachmae, quest rewards, arena prizes and store purchases.

Shields are a separate economy

Shields do not follow the weapon rules, which is why they have their own page. They give flat extra survivability, and the attribute that matters is not raw defence but what happens on the block or the parry: poison on block, sleep on block, bleeding on block, adrenaline absorption. Djoser's Pride and Compendium sit at the top of that list, Medusa's Gaze can simply be bought at the Nomad's Bazaar, and a long tail of common shields drops off any blacksmith you loot. Every entry with its rarity and its three attribute slots is in the shields guide.

Riddles hide the rest

A papyrus is a scrap of parchment with a clue on it, usually found on a table inside a temple or a library, and the reward it points at scales to your level when you claim it. That last detail is the one people miss: solve them late and the gear is worth having, solve them at level 12 and you get level 12 gear. The Twin Despair papyrus in Herakleion Nome pays out the Headache Remedy, Sobek's Rage covers the Reinforced Shield, and clearing the whole set is the only way to get Neith, a bow with an extra arrow perk and bleed on every hit. Locations and solutions are in the papyrus puzzles guide.

Whatever route you take, upgrade at a blacksmith as you climb. A legendary five levels below Bayek does less damage than a rare at his level, so the schedule matters more than the drop. Where those levels come from is the subject of our walkthrough guide, and where the drachmae come from is covered in the mechanics guide. The Assassin's Creed Origins guide hub links the rest.