Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Character Guide#

Protagonists#

Kassandra#

Alexios#

Family Members#

Mother: Myrrine#

Adoptive father: Nikolaos#

Brother: Stentor#

Key Historical NPCs#

Athenian Leaders#

Spartan Leaders#

Other Notable NPCs#

Companions and Crew#

Main Companions#

The Mercenary System#

The mercenary ladder in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a progression track that runs parallel to the main story: complete bounties and hunt down ranked mercenaries to climb tier by tier, and every new tier automatically unlocks an exclusive perk. The ladder starts at Tier 9 and rises all the way to Tier 1 at the top; after you reach the top, two special tiers, S1 and S2, are added on top of it.

Mercenary Tiers and Perks#

Tip Tier perks take effect automatically the moment you rank up, with nothing to claim manually; the discount values in the table reflect the live game’s current numbers.

Mercenary Mechanics#

Bounty triggers. Committing crimes in towns or military camps — slaughtering civilians, stealing, trespassing in restricted areas, attacking faction soldiers — builds up a bounty on your head in that region, posted by the local sponsor (usually the region’s archon or leader). While a bounty is active, mercenaries on the ladder will come hunting you, and a red helmet marker on your screen and map warns of the danger; the higher you climb, the tougher the hunters that show up. There are three ways to clear a bounty: let it decay naturally over time, pay the sponsor to make it go away, or eliminate the sponsor outright — the bounty dies with them.

Ikaros scouting. Ikaros is your first weapon against mercenaries. Once a hunter is on your trail, scan and tag them with Ikaros first: you will see the mercenary’s name, tier, gear, and combat weaknesses, such as immunity to certain damage types, a taste for fire attacks, or hounds and raptors fighting at their side. Know your target before you commit: a frontal assault, luring them to a cliff or into water to kill with the terrain, or knocking them out to recruit are all safer than charging in blind.

Defeat or recruit as lieutenants. You don’t have to kill every mercenary. Beat one to their knees with non-lethal damage and hold the interact key to recruit them as a lieutenant aboard the Adrestia, where each contributes ship bonuses according to their specialty; high-tier mercenaries usually bring better specialties and make prime lieutenant candidates. If you kill them instead, you can loot their high-end gear and engravings. Defeating the mercenary ranked directly above you on the ladder takes their tier; beaten mercenaries are replaced by new faces after a while, so the ladder always has prey to hunt.

The sponsor system. Every bounty has a sponsor behind it. Open the “Mercenaries” menu to view bounty details and track the sponsor’s location: once you find them, paying them off cancels the bounty, while killing them ends it for good. The higher you climb, the more your sponsors fear you — the Tier 5 perk “sponsors who fear you charge 20% less to remove a bounty” is a direct expression of this system. The bigger the bounty, the more often hunters come, so high-tier players should clear bounties regularly.

Ladder Play Essentials#

Tip To climb fast, prioritize bounty board targets and war contracts first: you earn drachmae and XP at the same time, and you can take out mercenaries ranked above you along the way. Before any fight, scout weaknesses with Ikaros and play to your strengths.

NPC Relationship System#

Relationship Types#

Romanceable NPCs#

Tip When talking to NPCs, a speech-bubble icon next to a dialogue option signals that the choice can lead to a romance. Pink bubbles mark romance options, blue bubbles mark friendship options.

NPC Quest Chain Overview#

Pericles Questline#

Socrates Dialogue Quests#

Character Development Advice#

Companion Roles and Duties#

Recommended Gear for Key Characters#

Key Character Interaction Guide#

Recruitment and Approval Overview#

Tip When talking to NPCs, a speech-bubble icon next to a dialogue option signals that the choice can lead to a romance. Pink bubbles mark romance options, blue bubbles mark friendship options. Planning approval wisely makes the main story smoother and makes hidden story rewards easier to unlock.