Which tool should you choose in Assassin’s Creed Mirage? Ubisoft’s latest and intentionally smaller entry in the long-standing series is home to the largest selection of tools to date, but you’ll have to pick one early on in the story. To help you with what seems like a daunting choice, we’ll go over all the best Assassin’s Creed Mirage tool, which one you should pick, and how to get all the tools later down the line. So, whether you’re yet to make the big decision or are wishing you choose otherwise, here’s everything you need to know about the AC Mirage tools system.
The arsenal of Assassin’s Creed Mirage tools is as large as it is diverse, and they’ll certainly come in handy when you’re sneaking around and eliminating your foes like a true Master Assassin would. But which tool is the best? Well, we’ve picked out our favorites from our hands-on with the game for our Assassin’s Creed Mirage review so that you can make the best choice possible right away.
Which tool should you choose in Assassin’s Creed Mirage?
We recommend choosing the Noisemaker tool first in Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Since this tool can be used to lure and manipulate guards, it’s perfect for stealth gameplay, which is heavily incentivized in Mirage.
With the much harder combat in AC Mirage, you’re often pushed towards a stealthily approach, either killing enemies without being detected or avoiding them altogether. This is even more important towards the start of the game, when you’re given this choice of tools, as you’re likely to have weaker weapons and armor, and less skills.
This is where the Noisemaker comes in clutch, as it will distract and lure guards when thrown. We’ve used this several times to move guards out of key locations so we can sneak in behind them.
On the surface, this might sound a lot like the basic whistle that all players have access to. However, while the whistle calls enemies over to you, which is great if you’re in a position to sneakily assassinate them, it’s not much use for manipulating groups of enemies and clearing paths. The Noisemaker is designed specifically for this. Whether you need to move a soldier guarding a doorway or separate a key target away from a crowd, the Noisemaker has got you covered.
The upgrades you can get later add extra versatility and utility to the tool, making it a priority to add to your arsenal. For example, you can upgrade it with fireworks to increase the time it distracts guards for, cause enemies to run away in fear, or even turn it into a weapon capable of destroying the rock walls.
While many would suggest the Smoke Bomb be your first choice, we disagree. The Smoke Bomb is no doubt one of the best tools in AC Mirage, but it’s not the best tool to start with. The Smoke Bomb is great for escaping if you’re caught or quickly eliminating foes, but it’s not quite as ideal for full stealth approaches as the Noisemaker. In a perfect world, you can use the Noisemaker to avoid detection entirely so you don’t need to use the Smoke Bomb to evade or take down enemies.
From our experience, we prefer choosing the Noisemaker first and then unlocking the Smoke Bomb as your second option later on in your journey. That’s right, you can eventually gain access to all six tools in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
The best Assassin’s Creed Mirage tools, ranked
The best Assassin’s Creed Mirage tools ranked from best to worst are:
- Throwing Knife
- Noisemaker
- Smoke Bomb
- Blowdart
- Trap
- Torch
The Throwing Knife is, without a doubt, the best tool in Assassin’s Creed Mirage thanks to how deadly and versatile it is, so it’s good news that it’s the starting tool. With the increased emphasis on stealth and assassination in Mirage, having a ranged weapon for swiftly eliminating enemies is vital. At default, the Throwing Knife has a moderate range and can one-hit headshot most enemies, and it only gets better with upgrades, such as having a charged attack or increasing range. We highly advise upgrading the Throwing Knife as soon as you can and working towards later upgrades as it’s your best and most reliable tool. It’s even useful in exploration and puzzle solving, letting you break certain objects from a distance.
As we mentioned before, we recommend choosing the Noisemaker when you pick your first tool to unlock. Like the Throwing Knife, the Noisemaker is great for stealthy plays which is AC Mirage’s bread and butter. It’s great for manipulating enemies and gaining access to areas without risking detection. With upgrades, you can even turn the Noisemaker into a deadly weapon and use it to break stone walls, bypassing several puzzles.
In fact, we’ve even used the Noisemaker in conjunction with the Throwing Knife, breaking groups of enemies apart to stealthily eliminate them. It’s a deadly combination that you can get early on if you pick the Noisemaker as your first additional tool.
Next is the Smoke Bomb, one of the most beloved tools in the Assassin’s Creed series. Having featured in most games, fans largely know what to expect from the Smoke Bomb, being a great tool for escaping bad situations or even initiating an all-out assault as enemies can’t fight back properly. The Smoke Bomb is as good as it’s always been in Mirage as well, and can be upgraded to add additional attack and defensive capabilities. If you’re looking to take the fight to the enemy or flee, the Smoke Bomb is your best friend.
The Blowdart also returns as a tool in Mirage. Without any upgrades, the Blowdart behaves much like a non-lethal Throwing Knife, putting enemies to sleep for a short duration. Given this, we don’t recommend it at the start of the game. Without upgrades, the Blowdart is best used as a reactionary tool if you’re outnumbered in a fight, rather than as a stealth tool as targets are only asleep for 30 seconds. However, later upgrades are incredibly fun, such as spreading poison or sending enemies into a fit of rage to attack each other, which is great for clearing camps without you even needing to intervene yourself. Given the investment involved before getting significant value out of this tool, we recommend choosing other tools first.
The Trap is the last main tool in Mirage, besides the Torch which serves no use in combat. The Trap begins as a non-lethal proximity explosive that can knock enemies out for a long period of time. While this sounds more useful than the Blowdart, and certainly can be in certain situations, it’s not often that you need to plan such coordinated plans, like placing a Trap in a guard’s path. However, later upgrades effectively turn the Trap into a bomb, which can be very helpful in taking down foes.
How to unlock more tools in Assassin’s Creed Mirage
You can unlock the remaining tools in Assassin’s Creed Mirage by purchasing the Extra Tool Capacity skills in the Trickster skill tree. Each of the three tiers will unlock a new tool slot. Return to the Banu Musa at any of the Hidden Ones’ Bureaus to choose a new tool to unlock.
Given you need to spend skill points to unlock even the first tier of the Extra Tool Capacity skills, unlocking more tools in AC Mirage is a lengthy process, at least in the context of the Assassin’s Creed Mirage length. If you’re eager to unlock tools quickly, we found completing the main story missions to be your best option as these reward plenty of skill points. However, completing the side investigations and even specific Contracts can also be lucrative when it comes to earning the skill points required to get the Extra Tool Capacity perks.
Can you get all the tools in Assassin’s Creed Mirage?
Yes, despite how daunting the game makes the choice seem at first, you can unlock all the available tools during a single playthrough in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
When you’re making the decision of your first tool, you’re given a warning that you can’t undo the decision, and that whichever one you pick will be your tool. However, it’s not that big of a deal in the long-run. Playthrough more missions and earn more skill points to invest in the Trickster skill tree and you’ll have all the tools eventually. You will, however, still have to pick the remaining tools in order, so it’s a good idea to think ahead about which ones you’d prefer to have towards the start of the game.
Now you know which Assassin’s Creed Mirage tool to pick first, as well as all the best tools in Mirage. Step back into Basim’s shoes and put an end to the Order of the Ancients in Baghdad in what is one of the best Assassin’s Creed games in the series to date.