Jin Sakai is a veritable one-man wrecking crew in Ghost of Tsushima. However, if you want to stand a chance of defeating the Mongols – or simply surviving more than a few hits – you’ll want to upgrade weapons and armor. You’ll first need to locate different materials to do so.
How To Find Materials?
What are these materials and where can you find them? Let’s break down each of them here. It’s also worth noting that materials can be gathered while on horseback, making the process much quicker.
- Supplies – Found throughout the world in locations like camps, houses and whatnot. Also drops from defeated enemies. Used for upgrading all kinds of equipment and buying other materials from Trappers.
- Bamboo – Found in locations with bamboo trees so keep an eye out in the Yagata and Kashine forests. Used to upgrade the Half Bow.
- Yew Wood – Can be found in forests, usually laying on the ground, but you can find them at Shinto Shrines as well. Used to upgrade ranged weapons.
- Wax Wood – Also used to upgrade ranged weapons. Found at Shrines.
- Flowers – Used to unlock dyes for armor and weapons. Found throughout various locations.
- Leather – Used for upgrading armor sets. Provided as a reward for completing different side quests (with the awarded material being listed). Also found in enemy tents. Can be purchased from Trappers with Supplies.
- Linen – Upgrades different equipment. Can be found in houses and enemy camps but also doled out as a reward for completing side quests.
- Silk – When completely upgrading an armor set, the final upgrades will require Silk. It can be obtained from Trappers with Supplies but also earned by completing specific side quests. Try completing all the Tales for Sensei Ishikawa and Lady Masako. After completing the first part, some of the subsequent parts will provide Silk as a reward.
- Predator Hide – Kill wild animals to obtain it. Upgrades the pouch for more carrying capacity.
- Iron – Used to upgrade Jin’s katana and tanto. Can be found in enemy Strongholds and small Outposts. Also purchasable from Trappers for Supplies and as a reward from some quests.
- Steel – Used for upgrading the katana and tanto. Sometimes found in chests in Outposts (usually in tents) but also as a reward for liberating enemy Farms and some Outposts. Can also be purchased from Trappers with Supplies.
- Gold – Used for the last few upgrades on the katana and tanto. Reward for liberating enemy Strongholds but can also be purchased from Trappers with Supplies.
For more details on farming Iron, Steel and Gold along with the requirements for upgrading weapons, check out our guide here.
All Armor Sets
There are several armor sets to discover, each offering different benefits. Here’s what they all do and how to unlock them.
- Broken Armor – Starting armor set. It has no perks and should be discarded as soon as possible.
- Traveler’s Attire – Complete the tutorial section to unlock this outfit. Allows for tracking Artifacts with Guiding Wind (with the controller vibrating within 30 meters of one). Traveling will also clear 10 percent more Fog of War on the world map, making this perfect for exploration.
- Ronin Attire – Complete the “Blood on the Grass” Tale to earn this. Increases melee damage by 15 percent while reducing enemy detection speed by 10 percent. Also, when leaving pampas grass while crouched, enemies will take more time to detect you
- Samurai Clan Armor – Complete “The Tale of Lady Masako” to unlock this. It’s a good general purpose set for combat which reduces all damage by a moderate amount and also restores 15 percent Resolve upon taking damage. Provides a moderate increase to max health.
- Tadayori’s Armor – Earned by completing “The Legend of Tadayori” Mythic Tale. Archer-focused set which restores 25 percent of the Concentration meter on headshots. Also increases total Concentration time by one second. Arrow nocking and reload speed are also increased by 15 percent.
- Sakai Clan Armor – Earned by completing the “Ghosts from the Past” Tale when reaching Toyotama. Provides moderate increase to melee damage and stealth. Also increases your Standoff Streak skill by one with a 10 percent chance to terrify nearby foes after winning a Standoff.
- Gosaku’s Armor – Complete “The Unbreakable Gosaku” Mythic Tale to unlock this. Offers moderate increases to health and Stagger damage. Killing a Staggered enemy will also restore 10 percent of health.
- Kensei Armor – Ghost-focused armor set that can be earned from completing “The Six Blades of Kojiro” Mythic Tale. Increases Resolve gains and Ghost Weapon damage by 15 percent. If you hit an enemy with a Ghost Weapon, then they’ll deal 25 percent less damage and take 25 percent more.
- Ghost Armor – The premiere Ghost armor set earned by completing “From the Darkness” in Act 2. Killing foes has a 15 percent chance of terrifying nearby enemies. Detection speed is also reduced by 20 percent and kills needed to enter Ghost Stance are reduced by one.
- Mongol Commander’s Armor – Complete the “Fit for the Khan” Tale that appears when reaching Kamiagata in Act 3. This armor provides some benefits to sneaking around, reducing detection speed by Mongols massively (since you’re essentially disguised). However, it’s main purpose is combat with a major increase to health and major reduction to all damage. Can’t be upgraded.
- Fundoshi – Unlocked after discovering every hot spring. Consists only of a loincloth with no other benefits or upgrades. However, running and sprinting won’t generate noise. A decent option for stealth or just plain ridiculousness.