Ghost of Yotei: How to stealth kill leaders and brutes?

While sneaking around in Ghost of Yotei, you may realize brutes and enemy leaders cannot be assassinated at first. On this page, you’ll learn how to stealth-kill leaders and brutes. Atsu needs specific skills to do this - unlocking them will make the rest of the game much easier.

• How to recognize leaders and brutes?
• How to unlock brute assassinations?

How to recognize leaders and brutes?

Throughout the game Atsu will frequently run into large and elite enemies. They can be problematic, as at first they can't be quietly assassinated.

1. Brutes stand out thanks to their size. They usually carry heavy two-handed weapons.
2. Leaders are most often found in hostile locations. They wear heavy armor and headgear.

1. When you sneak up on a large enemy, you’ll see the critical attack prompt. Your assassination won't kill them, just injure them. This makes handling them tricky, as they'll usually alert every enemy nearby right away.

How to unlock brute assassinations?

The solution is to unlock two skills in the Assassination tree. These are:

1. Brute Assassination – lets you assassinate brutes;
2. Slaughter Leader - lets you brutally assassinate leaders.

1. These abilities let you take down elite enemies with a single strike. The latter is especially useful - once you’re behind a leader, you can Slaughter them instead of pulling a regular assassination. This move kills the enemy instantly by decapitation and also terrifies nearby enemies. You can use this to get a few easy hits in before combat starts.
2. Slaughter can also be used to take down some mini-bosses. If successful, it will kill them instantly without the need for a long fight.

See also:

1. All armor
2. How to heal?
3. Tips and tricks

Ghost of Yotei

October 2, 2025

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