Assassin's Creed · Tourist Route
The suggested level never blocks you and both twins earn points at once. Here's the systems primer, the one gate to plan around, and the early power spike everyone misses.
London is the point — the story is the tour. Syndicate tags every mission with a suggested level, but it never blocks you and stealth assassination one-shots regardless — so a main-story run is completely viable. Ignore every collectible; they award zero XP. The one detour London forces on you: conquer three boroughs to open Sequence 8 — Whitechapel is free from the story, so take The Thames and Lambeth. Buy skills on both twins — points are minted for each, so there is no tradeoff. First Hours is the systems primer; Tourist Route is the full path; Skills & Gear is where to spend points and money. Every tick saves on this device as you go.
London is the point — the story is the tour. Play Sequences 1–7 straight through; every gadget is handed to you. Buy the same core skills on both twins (they each earn a point per 1,000 XP — there is no tradeoff). Craft Throwing Knife Upgrade I at the Sequence 3 tutorial. Buy the Medicine Market (£500) first. Then conquer two boroughs to open Sequence 8.
Syndicate tags missions with a suggested level and then never enforces it. You can walk into any memory underlevelled — enemies just hit harder. And stealth assassination one-shots regardless of level, so the tourist path stays wide open. Experienced players report over-levelling is the more common mistake. Don't grind out of anxiety.
Sequence 8 requires three conquered boroughs. It is the only hard gate in the game. Whitechapel is handed to you by the Sequence 3 story, so you need two more — take The Thames (the leanest borough in London) and Lambeth. Budget ~2–3 hours. Plan for it rather than slamming into it after Sequence 7.
Light. Covers the opening sequences and systems only. For the full 9-sequence route + live checklist use the Tourist Route tab; for skills and gang upgrades, Skills & Gear.
Tally your opening hours. Items marked ↔ shared also live on the Tourist Route or Skills & Gear tabs — tick them anywhere and they stay in sync.
Throwing knives are widely considered ridiculously overpowered in Syndicate. Knife Master I is cheap and available early, and Throwing Knife Upgrade I can be crafted during the forced crafting tutorial in Sequence 3. This is the best low-effort power spike in the game and most first-timers walk right past it.
London's threats come from the Blighters gang and Templar muscle. A tourist answers almost all of it from stealth, because a stealth assassination one-shots at any level.
| Threat | The answer |
|---|---|
| Street Blighters | Buy Notoriety and they stop initiating fights with you in the street. Until then, throwing knives and Slayer feeding the free Multi-Finisher clear a brawl fast. |
| Brutes / Enforcers (heavy) | Do not trade blows. Throwing knives, a Kukri heavy attack, or stun-then-assassinate. From stealth they die in one regardless of level. |
| Gunmen & snipers | Break line of sight, then throwing-knife them or take the rooftop with the Rope Launcher and assassinate from above. |
| Restricted-area guards | The whole point of the underlevelled run: a stealth kill ignores their level entirely. Eagle Vision to tag, then walk the gaps. |
The intuitive tourist advice is "play Evie, she's the stealthy one." That's a trap. Sequence 8 is 100% Jacob and Sequence 9 is nearly all Jacob — so if you've neglected his skill tree, you hit a wall at the hardest stretch of the game.
Since points are duplicated for free: buy the same core skills on both twins, then default to Evie in the open world if you prefer her. You lose nothing.
| Twin | Forced memories | Exclusive skills |
|---|---|---|
| 🎩 Jacob | 23 of 40 | Mutilate II, Gunslinger II, Defense III |
| 🎀 Evie | 11 of 40 | Stealth III, Knife Master II, Chameleon |
| ⚖️ Either | 5 free choice | — |
| 🏛 Scripted | 1 of 40 | A Night to Remember — the finale switches twins for you |
Evie's Chameleon makes her invisible while stationary in Sneak Mode. It's the strongest stealth node in the game — but it costs 6 points, needs Level 6 and Assassin Steps first (8 points all-in), so it will not be online early. Don't build your opening around it; build around throwing knives.
Jacob in a factory, Evie on a train. Short, on rails, and then London opens up. Start buying Health Boost I and Eagle Vision II on both twins immediately.
The big one. Gang War (Whitechapel) is a main-story memory, which means borough #1 of the three you need for Sequence 8 is conquered for free. The Rope Launcher is handed to you mid-mission during Freedom of the Press, along with a forced crafting tutorial and the Outdoorsman Outfit.
The game forces you to craft Smoke Bomb Upgrade I. While you're in that menu, also craft Throwing Knife Upgrade I — best value in the game, and you're already standing there. Also equip the Outdoorsman Outfit you just earned: −15% detection speed, free, perfect for a tourist.
Sequence 4 hands you the Dart Launcher in the Cable News opening cutscene. Buy the Medicine Market (£500) as your first gang upgrade — nearly every other upgrade requires it. Then switch to Tourist Route for the full path.
1,000 XP = 1 skill point — for each twin. Buy Eagle Vision II, Health Boost I–III, Loot Takedown and Double Assassination on both. Then Knife Master I (throwing knives are broken) and Slayer I–II. Buy the Medicine Market (£500) first, then Police Bribes → Notoriety. Ignore every driver skill and the entire £63,000 pub chain.
Every 1,000 XP mints one point for Jacob AND one for Evie. Spending on Evie costs Jacob nothing. Levels are tracked per twin (from points spent), so spend evenly and they stay in lockstep. Sequence 8 is 100% Jacob — do not let his tree rot.
Tick each purchase as you make it. This checklist is ACS-specific and saves as you go.
Three shared trees (Combat / Stealth / Ecosystem), 53 skills, plus three exclusives per twin. These are the ones that matter.
| Skill | SP | Tier | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle Vision II | 1 | ★★★ | See and tag through walls. Learn it as fast as you can. |
| Health Boost I | 1 | ★★★ | Survivability from hour one. |
| Loot Takedown | 1 | ★★★ | Auto-loot on kill. Saves a huge amount of time. |
| Double Assassination | 1 | ★★★ | Two unaware targets at once. |
| Health Boost II / III | 2 / 2 | ★★★ | Pure survivability. |
| Knife Master I | 2 | ★★★ | Throwing knives are ridiculously overpowered. Best low-effort lever in the game. |
| Slayer I → II | 1 / 2 | ★★★ | Combo x10 auto-near-death, chains to the next enemy. Feeds the free Multi-Finisher — trivialises combat. |
| Assassin Steps | 2 | ★★ | No fall damage, silent landing. Also the Chameleon prerequisite. |
| Combat Stamina | 6 | ★★ | Multi-kills regen health — combat becomes self-sustaining. |
| Knife Master II (Evie) | 4 | ★★ | Doubles down on the best mechanic in the game. |
| Chameleon (Evie) | 6 | ★★ | Invisible while stationary in Sneak Mode. Needs Level 6 + Assassin Steps — a late luxury, not an opener. |
Multi-Finisher, Stun Attack, Counter, Tool Combo, Whistle, Knockout, Stealth Navigation, Air Assassination, Countershot, Eagle Vision I and Fast Driven are all free at Sequence 1. Slayer feeding the free Multi-Finisher is why combat falls apart so cheaply.
All the Driver / carriage nodes (Driver I/II, Demolition Derby) are 12 points of pure convenience. Also skip Eagle Vision III, Intimidation, Lockpicking II, Execute I/II, Mutilate I/II, Gunslinger I/II, Adrenaline and First Strike II.
⚠ The entire Fear tree (Show Off, Life Sucker, The Torturer, Recycling Spikes, Make Some Noise!, Closer to the Epicenter, Fear Propagation) is Jack the Ripper DLC content only. Base-game players will never reach it — don't go hunting.
Kidnap (0 SP) is the reward for your first Bounty Hunt, and Leadership I (0 SP) for the Spitalfields Gang Stronghold. A pure story run never unlocks either. Your mandatory Thames/Lambeth detour picks up Kidnap on the way.
Gear is level-gated in Syndicate (the Assassin Kukri unlocks at Lv8, the Eagle Kukri crafts at Lv9). But level matters far less than it looks, because stealth assassination bypasses it entirely — you still one-shot from stealth at any level. That is exactly what makes an underlevelled tourist run work.
Evie's Aegis Outfit requires all 32 Secrets of London plus Reuge's Vault. It is a full collectathon for a costume. Do not route it.
39 upgrades across 3 trees, bought with money and materials — never skill points. Only a handful matter.
| Upgrade | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine Market | £500 + 10 Metal + 50 Chemicals | ★★★ Buy this first. Purchasable healing — and nearly every other upgrade in all three trees lists it as a prerequisite. |
| Police Bribes | £5,000 + 25 Silk | ★★ Prerequisite for Notoriety. |
| Notoriety | £7,500 | ★★★ The Blighters stop initiating fights with you in the street. Enormous friction reducer. |
| City-Wide Craze | £500 + mats | ★★ 50% off darts. Dirt cheap. (Requires Cable News.) |
| Black Market Affiliation | £3,000 + mats | ★★ −25% knife and ammo cost — pairs with the overpowered knives. |
Pub Investor → Pub Games → Bookmaker → Tea Magnate → Shop Investor runs about £63,000 for passive income you'll never spend in a 15–20 hour run. Skip it, along with City Takeover (£10,000 to discount upgrades you aren't buying), all Rook Riders / carriage nodes, and Training Rooks II/III.
You probably won't — the story plus the mandatory borough detour carries a tourist run. But if you feel thin going into the Jacob-heavy finale:
| Activity | XP | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Fight Club — Westminster | 2,000 + £6,000 | ★★★ The only infinitely repeatable high-value activity. Unlock via Robert Topping. |
| Gang Stronghold — The Strand | 960 | ★★ A genuine outlier (600 challenge bonus vs 100–150 elsewhere). |
| Bounty / Child Liberation — Westminster | 680 | ★★ Best one-time payouts. |
| Templar Hunt — early boroughs | 300–400 | ★ Fine while you're there for the gate. |
| Gang War | 200 | 🔴 Less than one Fight Club win, for a 10v10 brawl. Gate only. |
| Collectibles / Helix glitches | 0 | 🔴 Zero. Always. |
You'll see "recommended level" badges in-game, but no published guide has ever transcribed them reliably, so this guide deliberately doesn't list per-sequence numbers rather than invent them. It doesn't matter much anyway: the gate is soft, and stealth kills ignore level entirely.
A comfortable tourist finishes around Level 7–9 on both twins with Health Boosts, Knife Master, Slayer and Combat Stamina bought, the Medicine Market and Notoriety running, and a Kukri in hand. Max level is 10 (~108,000 XP) and you do not need it. That's London in roughly 15–20 hours.
Pair this with the Tourist Route tracker for the sequence-by-sequence path, and First Hours for the systems primer.
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