The Ultimate Guide on When to Play the Iki Island DLC
Hey fellow Ghost of Tsushima fans! Jin Sakai here, dropping my expert tips on the new Iki Island expansion. I‘ve spent countless hours roaming tsushima and have plenty to share. Let‘s dive into the best time to experience this awesome new adventure!
My Recommendation – Play Iki Island After You Beat the Main Game
I cannot stress this enough – wait until finishing the Tsushima campaign before starting the Iki Island DLC. The developers intentionally designed it as post-game content. Both for the increased difficulty and how it fits narratively as an extended flashback for Jin.
Trust me, I learned this lesson the hard way. I was so eager to check out the new island that I took a boat over as soon as it became available. While fun, disrupting the main story flow was jarring.
The stakes feel higher when playing Iki Island after watching Lord Shimura‘s fate unfold. It better showcases the legend Jin has become and emotional burden he carries.
Upgrade Your Skills – Enemies Hit Harder on Iki
Let me tell you from experience – the enemies on Iki Island are no joke! They hit harder and can take a ton of punishment compared to what I faced earlier on in my Tsushima journey:
Iki Island Enemies vs Main Game Foes:
| Enemy Type | Health | Damage | Defense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iki Island | +30% | +25% | +15% |
| Base Game | Base | Base | Base |
I learned this the embarrassing way facing off barehanded against the new Eagle Hunters. Do not recommend!
Spend time maxing out any major combat skills before traversing to Iki. Trust me, skills like mounted charging strike and ghost stance are lifesavers against the beefed up foes.
Also upgrade the following other key combat abilities to prepare:
- Deflections
- Chain assassinations
- Evasion
- Resolve gains
It makes a huge difference going in prepared…unlike my first unfortunate trip over!
There‘s Tons of New Content to Dig Into
Sucker Punch packed Iki Island full of new adventures! Here‘s a quick taste of what you can experience:
- 7 Major Side Tales – deeper stories to dive into
- 5 New Bamboo Strikes – test your skill with fresh challenges
- 9 New Fox Dens – acquire more useful charms
- New Armor – forge an awesome bear set that increases health regen
And much more! Ghostflowers to collect, records to discover, vanity gear…you‘ll easily sink 20+ hours exploring everything the island has to offer.
Iki Island is practically an entire new Tsushima game in itself. As a hardcore fan, I could NOT get enough of all the content provided!
When Should You Journey Into the Past?
At a certain point in the Iki Island storyline, an opportunity opens to "journey into the past" and take part in an epic side tale flashback. Awesome right?!
However – this does trigger a point-of-no-return for the time being. You‘ll be stuck on Iki until finishing the main DLC story.
So if there are any leftover tales, upgrades, or anything else to wrap up on Tsushima – I suggest doing that ahead of time! Once my journey into the past started, I was locked out of fast traveling or returning to the mainland areas I still had unfinished business with…
Hopefully you don‘t make the same mistake your pal Jin did!
Time Those Flashbacks Carefully!
Weighing exactly when to experience the Iki Island DLC comes down to your personal tastes. But from my firsthand experience, saving the DLC for post-game when I was best equipped to handle the adversity allowed me to get the most fulfillment out of my return to Tsushima as the Ghost.
Hopefully these tips help guide your epic adventure on Iki Island! If you ever see a fellow samurai playing his flute out there, stop and say hello!
Your partner in heroic deeds,
Jin Sakai
*Statistics on enemy differences courtesy of Reddit user Decepti-kun‘s analysis. Special thanks!*
