She wasn't even supposed to be the only lead. That’s the wild part. When you boot up the game, you’re met with a choice that feels monumental but, according to the developers and the tie-in novel by Gordon Doherty, there is only one "true" path. Assassin's Creed Odyssey Kassandra is the official, canon protagonist of the Peloponnesian War.
If you played as Alexios, you didn't "play it wrong." You just played a different version of history.
Kassandra brings a specific kind of weary, dry wit to the role of a Misthios. She’s a mercenary. She’s a sister. Eventually, she becomes something much more ancient. Melissanthi Mahut, the voice actress behind the character, didn't just read lines; she gave Kassandra a vocal gravity that makes the 100-plus hours of exploration feel grounded. It’s a performance that earned her a BAFTA nomination, and honestly, it’s easy to see why. There’s a specific smirk in her delivery that Alexios—bless his heart—just doesn't quite capture in the same way.
Most people don't realize how close we came to having a female-only lead from the jump. Reports from Bloomberg later revealed that internal pushes at Ubisoft originally favored Kassandra as the sole protagonist, but "marketing concerns" (the fear that a woman on the cover wouldn't sell) led to the inclusion of Alexios. It’s a bit of industry meta-drama that makes her character feel even more like a triumph of writing over corporate hesitation.
The Misthios and the Weight of Canon
Why does "canon" even matter in a game about choices?
It matters because of the wider Assassin’s Creed timeline. When you see the Misthios pop up in later entries like Assassin's Creed Valhalla during the "A Fated Encounter" crossover, it’s Kassandra who steps off the boat. Not Alexios. This solidified her place in the lore. She is the one who lived for two millennia. She is the one who bore the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus.
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She's basically the bridge between the Isu era and the modern world.
Think about the sheer scale of her life. While Eivor is raiding monasteries in England, Kassandra has already been alive for over a thousand years. She’s seen empires rise, fall, and turn into tourist traps. That longevity changes how you view her dialogue in Odyssey. When she talks about the futility of the war between Athens and Sparta, she isn't just being cynical. She’s right.
Breaking Down the Family Dynamic
The story is a Greek tragedy, plain and simple. If you choose Kassandra, Alexios becomes Deimos, the brainwashed weapon of the Cult of Kosmos. This flip is arguably the most effective way to experience the narrative. Seeing a younger brother twisted into a monster by a shadow organization feels more visceral than the alternative.
The Cult of Kosmos is a messy, sprawling web of villains. You spend half the game hunting them down through menus and side quests. But the heart of the game isn't the political maneuvering; it's the dinner table. Can you save your family? Should you?
The game lets you kill them all. Or you can have a weird, slightly uncomfortable family reunion on your ship, the Adrestia. Most players strive for the "good" ending, but there’s a gritty reality to the "bad" endings that feels more in line with actual Greek mythology. Sophocles would have approved of the tragedy.
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Combat, Builds, and the Demigod Power Trip
Let’s talk about the actual gameplay because Kassandra is a tank.
Unlike the earlier games where stealth was the only viable option, Odyssey leans hard into the RPG-lite mechanics. You aren't an assassin. Not yet. You’re a mercenary with the blood of a precursor race flowing through your veins. This allows for some absolutely broken builds.
- The Fire Build: Using the Prometheus’s Sika and the Agamemnon set to turn every battlefield into a literal bonfire.
- The Glass Cannon: Equipping the Falx of Olympus, which caps your health at 25% but doubles your damage. It’s risky. It’s stressful. It’s also the fastest way to delete a Mercenary who is three levels above you.
- The Hunter Build: Basically becoming a sniper in ancient Greece. With the right engravings, you can headshot a fort commander from the next province over.
The lack of a hidden blade for most of the game was a huge point of contention at launch. Instead, you use the Broken Spear of Leonidas. It’s an Isu artifact. It allows for "Leap of Faith" jumps from Mount Taygetos without taking a scratch. Is it realistic? No. Is it fun? Absolutely.
The Controversy of Legacy of the First Blade
We have to address the DLC. Legacy of the First Blade caused a massive stir in the community because it forced Kassandra into a specific romantic outcome to continue her bloodline. For a game that marketed itself on "player choice," this felt like a betrayal to many who played her as queer or simply uninterested in settling down.
Ubisoft eventually issued an apology and tweaked some dialogue, but the core plot remained. It’s a reminder of the friction between "RPG freedom" and "Narrative Canon." To keep the Assassin's Creed lineage going—leading all the way to Aya/Amunet in Origins—the writers felt they needed a biological link. It’s a clunky piece of storytelling in an otherwise stellar journey.
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Hidden Details You Probably Missed
The world of Odyssey is stupidly large. You can spend 40 hours just sailing the Aegean and still not see everything.
- There’s a tiny island called Lestris where you can find a "Easter egg" referencing The Legend of Zelda.
- If you climb the statue of Zeus in Kephallonia and hang off a... certain part of his anatomy, Kassandra will actually comment on how you shouldn't be climbing there.
- The historical figures aren't just cameos. Herodotus stays on your ship. Alkibiades is constantly trying to get you into bed (or a political scandal). Sokrates will give you a literal headache with his circular logic.
The attention to historical detail—mixed with the flamboyant mythology—is what keeps people coming back. You can fight the Minotaur. You can trick a fake Minotaur. You can explore the ruins of Knossos. It’s a digital museum with a high body count.
Mastering the Late Game
If you're still wandering through Greece, stop ignoring the Oikos of the Olympian. Sargon sells items that usually cost real-world money (Helix Credits) for a currency called Orichalcum Ore. You find this glowing blue ore scattered in the world or by completing daily contracts. It’s the only way to get the cool "Underworld" armor or Pegasus mounts without opening your wallet.
Also, prioritize the "Armor Penetration" engraving. It’s arguably the most important stat in the game for high-level play. Once you hit the level cap (which was eventually raised to 99), the game shifts from a story to a math problem.
Moving Forward in the Odyssey
To get the most out of your time as the Misthios, focus on the following steps to ensure you don't burn out on the massive map:
- Complete the Mythical Creatures: Don't ignore the "Between Two Worlds" questline. Fighting the Medusa and the Sphinx provides the most unique gameplay challenges and pays off the Isu lore in a way the main war story doesn't.
- Synchronize Only Necessity: You don't need every fast travel point. The sea travel is where the atmosphere lives. Use the Ikaros drone to scout, but don't feel pressured to clear every "Question Mark" on the map. Most are just generic bandit camps.
- Play the Crossover: After finishing the main story and the DLCs, head to Kephallonia for the purple quest icon. This leads to the Korfu mission, which acts as the true bridge between Odyssey and Valhalla, explaining what Kassandra does with her immortality.
- Engrave Everything: Visit Hephaistos’s Workshop in the Myson Cave (Malic region). He can upgrade your engravings beyond the standard limits, which is essential for surviving the higher difficulty settings.
Kassandra’s journey is about the burden of knowledge. By the time the credits roll, she isn't the hot-headed mercenary from the beach anymore. She’s a guardian. Whether she’s your "canon" or just a character you tried for a few hours, her impact on the franchise is permanent. She redefined what an Assassin’s Creed lead could look like, proving that the series could survive—and thrive—without a hood or a hidden blade.