Ghost of Tsushima: How to Observe Leaders

Although Ghost of Tsushima heavily emphasizes engaging in combat head-on, sometimes taking a more stealthy approach can work in your favor. Specifically, taking time to observe Mongol leaders before attacking can not only give you the upper hand, but there’s a reward for doing so as well.

In this guide, we’ll go through how to effectively observe leaders in Ghost of Tsushima, where to find them, and what you get for doing so. 

Where to Find Mongol Leaders

Mongol leaders are located in enemy camps. These are locations that are jam-packed with enemies and require you to eliminate them in exchange for resources, Legend increases, and Stance progress.

You’ll know you’re in the right area if you see a list of objectives in the upper left corner. There will almost always be an objective that requires you to eliminate the Mongols, along with bonus challenges.

Don’t confuse these areas with small groups of Mongols wandering across the land. Although you do get rewards for defeating those small groups, we haven’t come across any that include Mongol leaders that can be observed.

Once you do find a camp, stealthily make your way into it, either via a broken fence or from a rock that you can drop down from. You’ll want to position yourself in such a way that gives you the best vantage point of the area.

Make sure you sneak in, as opposed to initiating a Standoff. While the Standoffs certainly look cool, they will alert everyone to your location, thus negating the ability to observe leaders.

Mongol leaders are bigger enemies that typically wear heavy armor, possibly in red or gold colors. Press on the touch-pad to enter Focused Hearing mode. This will help when identifying enemies. When you’ve spotted the leader, make your way closer to get a better look.

How to Observe Leaders

Get close enough to a Mongol leader and the game will prompt you to “Observe Leader” by holding in “R2”. You have to hold it down for a few seconds to get credit. Keep in mind, the leader will probably move around while you observe them, so make sure you remain hidden throughout. 

Once you fill the bar, the game will notify you that you’ve observed them. From here, you’re free to land a stealth attack.

Benefits of Observing Leaders

Aside from simply getting the jump on these powerful enemies, observing leaders is something you should always try to do because it grants you an additional Stance point. 

These Stances offer different techniques for you to use, each focusing on a certain enemy type. Stance points are used to unlock new attacks for each stance. 

You gain one Stance point for defeating the leader, but you’ll earn an extra one if you observe them first, so always try your best to do that. If you get spotted before being able to observe them, you can restart the checkpoint from the pause menu.

Sometimes, getting the game to register that you’re close enough to a leader can be finicky. There were times when we were right behind an enemy leader and the game wouldn’t prompt to observe the leader.

If this happens, leave the area and go somewhere else for the time being. After the game has saved, the area giving you trouble should have reset itself, and it will hopefully trigger the prompt to observe leaders. 

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That’s everything you’ll need to know about finding and observing leaders in Ghost of Tsushima. For more on GoT, check out the links above, and look out for more in the coming days.