Ghost of Yōtei builds guide – creative ways to slay the Six – PlayStation.Blog

A yellow kimono. A damaged lacquered hat. The Ghost mask with its kintsugi effect.

More than a simple garment, Atsu’s outfit from Ghost of Yōtei’s trailers and artwork has quickly become iconic. And while this is the outfit you’ll begin your journey with, you’ll quickly be searching for upgraded armour and speciality gear if you plan on surviving Ezo.

Understanding the challenges that lay ahead of you, developer SuckerPunch has introduced a builds system to Ghost of Yōtei, allowing players to combine the special features of armour and outfits with the boons offered by the charms found throughout the world. At the start, you can have three builds, and eventually you will be able to save up to five at any one time.

To help you in your hunt for the Yōtei Six, we’ve put together a selection of unique builds to try out during your time at the edge of Japan. Note that while this guide names amour sets and charms, it avoids spoilers and specific details. However, we recommend spending a few hours exploring Ezo yourself, before delving further into this article.

The Warrior – Combat and Melee

Built around stagger damage and useful for facing multiple foes at once, this build will boost your health, increase your ability to push enemies back and put you in strong stead during combat scenarios.

To make the most of this build, focus on parrying incoming attacks and using your heavy attack to stagger enemies quickly, but make sure you select the correct weapon for your opponent, as this armour’s abilities are only triggered when you are weapon-aligned.

Armour: Armour of the Undying

Found: The Undying Samurai questline

Benefits:

Staggers restore health if weapon aligned

Window to perform perfect parry and dodge increased if weapon aligned

Focus attacks increase stagger damage if weapon aligned

Charms:

Charm of Thoughtful Restoration

Gain increase to maximum health

Father’s Charm

Perfect parries regain a moderate amount of Health

Takezo’s Charm of Bold Deflection

Parrying inflicts additional stagger damage

Charm of Shattering Strike

Shields destroyed with the Kusarigama unleash an explosion of shrapnel, inflicting stagger damage to nearby enemies

Charm of Thunderous Assault

Staggering an enemy with the odachi has a chance to knock down that enemy

Charm of Cannon Steps

The Yari’s Typhoon kick has a chance to instantly stagger an enemy

The Ghost – Stealth and Assassination

Perfect for infiltration missions or when you’re outnumbered but not yet discovered, this build will slow down enemy detection speed and allow you to silently take down multiple opponents at once.

For this build, keep out of sight, sneak up on enemies and trigger the chain assasination ability, allowing you to take several of them down quickly. If you are detected, sake jars and smoke bombs allow you to return to the shadows.

Armour: Crimson Kimono

Found: Crimson Kimono questline

Perks:

Chain assassinations can be performed with kunai

Enemy detection is reduced

Kusarigama assassinations can be unleashed from further away

Charms:

Charm of Lingering Shadows

Reduces enemy detection speed

Charm of the Wary Opponent

Press L2 to focus on an enemy that has begun to detect you

Charm of the Blind Drunk

Throwing a sake jar at an enemy will briefly blind them

Charm of Masaka

Using a smoke bomb regains health

Charm of the Fearful End

All types of assassinations have a chance to terrify nearby enemies

Charm of Assassin’s Resolve

All types of assassinations grant an additional amount of Spirit

The Dragonfly – Ranged

Want to take enemies on from a distance? This build focuses on the use of Atu’s dual bows, allowing you to put down enemies from farther with precision and speed.

This build works best if you hit enemies with either bow, making use of the time-slowing Concentration feature, which is extended by the attributes of the chosen charms. You can then quickly close the gap for a chance to refill your quiver, before retreating to a safe distance to continue your volley.

Armour: Dragonfly Armour

Found: Daijiro questline 

Perks:

Fully drawing your bow creates a brief timed glint. Firing your arrow during this glint empowers your shot, increasing its damage and range

Firing an empowered arrow grants an amount of concentration 

Increase arrow reload speed

Charms:

Mother’s Charm

The wind quickens your arrows, increasing their damage

Charm of True Aim

The Yumi locks onto enemies and fires two arrows

Charm of Kibitsuhiko

Land headshots while using Concentration to extend its duration

Charm of Iron Focus

Increases total concentration time

Charm of Archer’s Fortune

An increased chance to recover arrows that kill or miss their target

The Dueller – Risk and Reward

A risky choice, this build is all about precision and allows you to plow through opponents, provided you have your timing right. It is especially useful during 1-on-1 duels.

Perfect parries are key here; performing one allows you to land multiple damaging blows on your opponent while retaining and regaining health through the choice of charms. But be warned – regular parries are disabled, opening you up to devastating damage if you miss your window, which is why this build leans heavily on health-related perks.

Armour: Bounty Master Armour

Found: Soma the Condemned bounty

Perks:

Perfect parry windows are increased, but regular parries are disabled

A perfect parry enables additional counter attacks

All Spirit gains are increased

Charms:

Father’s Charm

Perfect parries regain health

Takezo’s Charm of Bold Deflection

Parrying inflicts additional stagger damage

Charm of Thoughtful Restoration

Gain an increase to maximum health

Charm of Healing

While at half health or less, potency of the Heal technique increases

Charm of Masakado

Onryō’s Will revives you at full health

The Firefly – Quickfire Chaos

Focused on the use of flaming kunai, with this chaotic build you can overwhelm groups of enemies while your armour and charms buff damage and burn time, igniting enemies and melting shields.

This build’s attributes can refill your Kunai through assassinations and looting to keep your fiery attack going.

Armour: Nine Tail Armour

Found: Kitsune questline 

Perks:

Quickfire weapon damage and duration of status effects are increased

Assassinations has a chance of dropping quickfire ammo

Enemy detection speed and assassination noise is reduced

Charms:

Charm of Burning Blades

Kunai now inflict fire damage and ignite flammable objects

Charm of the Hidden Blades

Charm of Homusubi

Inflict increased fire damage to enemies

Charm of Lingering Affliction

All harmful status effects on enemies last longer and deal additional damage

Charm of Uncanny Aim

Quickfire weapon damage increased

Charm of Generous Opponents

Chance to recover quickfire weapons when looting the dead

Additional tip: All armour sets and many charms can be upgraded several levels, increasing their special effects. To fully benefit from these builds, focus on reaching the top level with your chosen armour and charms.

These builds will help you on your hunt for the Yōtei Six, but they are not the only options. Combining one of the many other discoverable armour pieces with your chosen combination of charms allows you to craft a build that perfectly suits your own playstyle.

Play around and discover what works for you. You’re going to need all the help you can get as you face The Snake, The Oni, The Kitsune, The Spider, The Dragon, and Lord Saito.

Ghost of Yōtei is out now on PS5.