The Master Thief of Anbar is the first mission in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which serves as a tutorial that teaches players the basic controls and mechanics along with an engrossing storyline about the key characters of the game. Inspired by the villain from Valhalla, players get to see the beginnings of Basim Ibn Ishaq as a street thief in Baghdad, offering insight into his motivations and journey to becoming a master assassin.
Read ahead as we go through the events of The Master Thief of Anbar in Assassin’s Creed Mirage and share some tips needed to complete every objective along the way.
On this Guide:
The Master Thief of Anbar Walkthrough
Follow Nethal
The mission begins with the protagonist, Basim, awoken from a nightmare and accompanied by Nehal, his companion and oldest friend. Once you gain control of your character, Nehal will exit the hideout, and you’ll be tasked with following her. Before you do, look to your left, then go near the wall-mounted shelf and collect 1 Emerald Ring and 1 Jade Medallion. Once done, proceed to follow Nehal outside.
Follow along the path up ahead until you reach and discover a new location, Anbar, where Nehal comes to stop near a ledge after climbing a set of stairs. The next events will then introduce players with the early game mechanics and basic controls.
In order to continue following Nethal, players need to Freerun across various buildings and platforms. To do this, hold [A on Xbox | X on PS| Space on PC] while moving, and Basim will automatically jump across, climb, or swing through platforms. Once you familiarize these controls, parkour with Nethal until you reach the market area.
You’ll eventually stop at a rooftop and trigger a short cutscene over Basim’s fixation on the Hidden Ones. After the conversation, follow Nehal by climbing down the ledge, hold [B on Xbox | O on PS| C on PC] while moving, and blend into the crowd. The next objective will then introduce players with the game’s pickpocketing mechanics.
Steal and Pickpocket Merchants
Initially steal a pouch off a nearby table, and then move on to the pouches hanging from the waist of specific NPCs (merchants).
To find pouches that you can pickpocket, first you must use Eagle Vision [press LEFT on D-PAD or V on PC]. This highlights key objects and people within your vicinity and saves you some trouble finding things. Allies are highlighted in blue, enemies in red, and as for the pouches, they show as orange on my end.
Stealing pouches from tables can be as easy as collecting it by holding [Y on Xbox | Triangle on PS| E on PC], then slowly walking away without being noticed. But stealing from NPCs or merchants requires additional tasks to be done.
Go near a merchant with a pouch on their waist, press and hold [Y on Xbox | Triangle on PS| E on PC] to pickpocket. Once a blue diamond appears on the screen, you’ll want to wait until the white diamond outline merges with it before pressing the button again. If you time it correctly, a yellow diamond will appear upon doing a successful pickpocket action.
Meet with Dervis
After stealing the pouch of the woman merchant, retun to Nehal and decide to meet with Dervis. Climb on top of the pile of objects next to Nehal, then travel across the rooftops to the quest marker. You’ll encounter a variety of new obstacle platforms, such as ziplines, pole vaults, and haystacks, that can eventually be used to roam across the map.
Once you arrive at Dervis’ location, there’s a bunch of kids and other NPCs you can optionally interact with. Proceed through the doorway with a quest icon, where you’ll find Dervis. During the cutscene, Dervis gives Basim a new job for the Hidden Ones, which involves stealing a ledger.
Steal a Ledger
After the cutscene, head to the harbor where the ledger is located. The next events will teach players how to use the game’s stealth mechanics.
When you get there, you’ll discover that the area is completely surrounded by Caliph’s Guards. So, the best approach for completing the objective is to avoid detection. Eventually, you’ll be introduced to two new features, Detection and Eliminating Enemies.
Detection shows a meter above Basim when an enemy has sensed your location. Simply crouch by pressing [B on Xbox | O on PS| C on PC] on tall grasses to hide from detection. You can then eliminate enemies by pressing [RB on Xbox | R1 on PS| F on PC]. You can do this undetected.
Take out the first guard by the entrance, then proceed to your left and take out the guard looking at the docks. Carry his body onto the tall grass afterwards to avoid suspicion. Once done. Go up the ramp that leads up to a ladder where you can climb. This takes you to the rooftop of the room containing the ledger. As you go down and try to get inside, you’ll see that the door is locked and needs a specific key to open it.
Use Eagle Vision to highlight the guard who holds the key, which can be found on the next building. From the locked door, head down the stairs and move past the guard sitting on a chair in the middle. Crouch in the tall grass ahead, then use Whistle [press RIGHT on D-PAD or X on PC] to distract and take down the guard standing on the doorway.
Head inside the doorway with a torch, then turn left to find a ladder that you can climb. There’s a chest at the back of the ladder that you can loot for Dirham and other materials. Once on the second floor of the building, silently take out the guard with a spear on his back to obtain the Harbor Warehouse Key. You can open up or unbar windows and doors to access shortcuts for a quicker escape route.
With the key on hand, use it to open the locked door from before and steal the ledger sitting on top of a table. You can also find another loot chest hidden beside the table to the right. Once done, return to Drevis and trigger a cutscene that introduces Roshan, character that’s part of the Hidden Ones.
Infiltrate the Winter Palace
Despite Nehal’s disagreement with Basim’s ultimate intention to become part of the Hidden Ones, she agrees to assist him in retrieving a chest that holds something of value.
Simply follow Nehal as she navigates the path that eventually leads to The Winter Palace. Following the cutscene, players will have a choice between two routes into the Winter Palace. They can either follow Nehal who knows a way inside or investigate the area to find another entrance. To get the objective done quickly and efficiently, just follow Nehal’s lead.
Follow Nehal for a way in
If you choose to follow Nehal, you’ll head down from the rooftop you came on, across to the royal grounds, through the long grass surrounding the area. Then, move past the NPCs and down to a door on the ground floor. This is the ideal stealthy route from which you can learn, as Nehal will make room for both of you to quickly move past patrols as safely as possible.
The door will be locked upon arriving at the location, and you need to obtain a specific key to open it.
Steal the Winter Palace key from the guard
Use Eagle Vision once again to identify and highlight the palace guard that holds the key. The guard you’re aiming for is patrolling near the fountain. Wait for the other 3 patrol guards to move away from a certain distance, then use the tall grass and flowers to go near the guard holding the key. You can either take him down or simply do a successful pickpocket action to obtain the Winter Palace key without killing the guard.
Once you have the key, stealthily head back to where Nehal is and open the locked door. In a following cutscene, Basim and Nehal listen in on a conversation between the Caliph and masked figures belonging to the Order of the Ancients.
Steal the contents from the Black Chest
Follow Nehal and sneak past the remaining guards all the way into the room where the chest is located. The near-end of the cutscene shows Nehal stabbing the Caliph on the neck to save Basim’s life.
Escape the Palace
Following the cutscene, you’ll be in for a chase with your life at risk. Hold [LS on Xbox | L3 on PS| Shift on PC] while moving forward to sprint. As soon as you leave the caliph’s room, start sprinting and jump over the fountain statues to fend off the guards. Then, utilize Freerunning on platforms to slip past the guards on the street and proceed directly into the quest marker without turning around.
Return to the Hideout
Leaving the palace, You can avoid the guards waiting on your right if you jump on the crates, then use the long rope to zip across to the other side. Proceed along the trail until you reach the streets outside. You can break the line of sight by scaling the buildings to your left and then escaping down the neighboring alleys.
You’ll eventually arrive at the hideout, where you woke up from the nightmare at the start. In the following events, Basim is woken up by Roshan, who tells him he has another shot at living. He had been advised to head to the western docks to catch a boat out of town. But before he leaves, Basim resolves to warn Dervis along with his other friends.
Warn Dervis and the Others
As you get out from the hideout, you’ll be greeted with guards if you continue to run along the streets. Instead, Climb the wall to your left and run across the rooftops to avoid being detected.
Once Basim reaches the docks, another cutscene will play, showing the guards catching up to him and preparing to execute him. He is saved in the nick of time by Roshan, and the two of them decide to move up in a neighboring tower. They managed to dive into the depths of the ocean and escape the pursuing guards. But Basim blacks out after an accidental plunge, bringing an end to the Master Thief of Anbar mission.