You need to unlock these 6 Techniques first in Ghost of Tsushima

In Ghost of Tsushima's prologue, Jin Sakai and 79 other mounted samurai fail to repel the Mongolian Invasion on Komada Beach, and he awakens weeks later to the island overrun by Mongolians. As Jin, the player's tasked with repelling the invading forces — but do you have the right skillset to get the job done?

Ghost of Tsushima has a wide-ranging progression system that can seem overwhelming at first with skill trees full of different "Techniques." Do you want to lean into the technical prowess of the samurai? Or dabble more in the sneaky, dishonorable tactics of Jin's ninja-esque new persona, "The Ghost"?

Here's a look at some of the best techniques to unlock ASAP in Ghost of Tsushima.

How to unlock techniques in Ghost of Tsushima

There are three technique archetypes Jin can pursue: Samurai, Stances, and Ghost. Each of those has several different streamlined skill trees or techniques grouped by specific features.

After every battle (big or small), you'll earn a small sum of experience points that go toward increasing your overall "legend," which is essentially your level. At certain milestones before reaching a new legend level, you'll earn a technique point. New techniques can be unlocked by spending 1-2 technique points for each new unlock.

In other words, it's a very limited resource that you need to spend wisely. Thankfully, we're here to guide you towards the most effective early unlocks in the game.

6. Roll

The first skill available in the Evasion skill tree found on the Samurai is the most essential. Unlock Roll immediately to let you do more than just sidestep from attacks, but more out of their way entirely. You'll be able to move further away from foes, granting you further dominion over the flow of battle.

5. Dodging Slash

Immediately below the roll technique, you'll find Dodging Slash. This will allow to you sidestep an attack and quickly counter your foe with the square button. When you're playing a game like Ghost of Tsushima where it's very easy to find yourself outnumbered, it's essential to have avenues to counterattack easily like the Dodging Slash.

4. The right half of the Deflection skill tree

To be more specific, this means unlocking Perfect Parry, Unyielding Sword Parry, Deflect Arrows, and Unyielding Spear Parry as soon as you have the points to do so. These will let you parry nearly every attack enemies can throw at you. With these abilities mastered, you'll seldom find yourself cornered by a red-lighted unblockable blow, giving you an easy escape route when you're vastly outnumbered — or it will let you quickly cut through a group of foes.

3. Iron Will

This bad boy can be found on the bottom-left of the Ghost tab on your Techniques page as the second skill under "Recover Health." Unlocking Iron Will allows you to self revive for a few Resolve points (those yellow circles near your health bar) after being dealt a fatal blow. This skill will literally save your life and loads of your time.

2. Safe Landing

You can find Safe Landing in the middle-bottom of the Ghost techniques tab. It is the second skill under the Assassination tree. This skill lets you roll right while landing a very high jump to avoid possibly fatal damage. It likely won't help you in combat, but it's essential for traversal. The fact that you'll survive a fall from terrifying heights will let you make bolder choices when traveling, which ultimately means you can progress at a faster pace.

1. Kunai

After upping your legend level for the first time, you'll be given the option to unlock one of five Ghost weapons. Make sure you pick the Kunai as your first Ghost weapon. When thrown, these knives can quickly deal massive damage to foes, letting you thin enemy forces with little effort. Don't worry, you'll get the chance to unlock the other weapons the next time you level up.

Ghost of Tsushima is available now for PlayStation 4.