AC Odyssey: How does the crime system work? Assassin's Creed Odyssey Guide and Walkthrough

Last update: 22 December 2022

Committing a crime in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey has its negative consequences that might impede further gameplay. This section includes all the information on what crimes you are punished for, what are the penalties for breaking the law, and how to get rid of them.

• What crimes can you be punished for?
• What are the results of breaking the law?
• How to get rid of the bounty?

What crimes can you be punished for?

The three main types of crimes that can cause you trouble are:

1. Theft. This regards most of the items and containers found in locations that are inhabited. Upon standing next to a given object, the game displays a red information whether taking it is a crime (an example in the screenshot above). This action will be noted as theft only if you do it in other characters' sight (e.g. the people inhabiting the location).
2. Murder. You can get into a lot of trouble for that, no matter if you kill a peasant, a mercenary, a guard or a soldier. Murder will be noted only if there are any witnesses.
3. Attacking other ships. All acts of aggression in the sea are considered as crimes, including destroying or boarding other ships.

Each noted crime gradually fills the red bar visible in the bottom right corner of the screen.

What are the results of breaking the law?

After the bar is filled enough for the helmet icon to become red, a bounty is put on your character and a mercenary will start hunting him down. Each new red helmet icon represents a new bounty hunter trying to track you down and kill you. There can be a maximum of five bounty hunters looking for your character.

Bounty hunters are visible on the world map, and you receive a warning notification each time one of them gets close to your character (approximately several dozen meters away). In such case, you have two options:

1. Escape. This option is preferred should the bounty hunter be equipped with stronger abilities and has a higher level than your character.
2. Defeat the mercenary. It is a good idea if you want to acquire his gear or recruit him as a lieutenant on your ship.

How to get rid of the bounty?

There are three main methods to solve problems with the law in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. The simplest one is to wait until the situation settles down. In this case, you have to avoid bounty hunters and cannot commit any more crimes.

Another option involves paying the bounty. You can do this from the world map window. You can either:

1. Pay the bounty only to the sponsor who issued it (an example in screenshot 1) or.
2. Pay all the bounties at once - the information on the bounty total is visible on the right-hand side of the screen (screenshot 2).

Important note - You can pay the bounty even when a mercenary is hunting you or when they are near your character. This is a good way to "get rid of" a mercenary when you have encountered them suddenly or when that person is causing you problems with clearing a location or completing a quest. A mercenary doesn't disappear immediately after you pay the bounty. However, this person won't attack you when they notice your character.

The last option is to track down and kill the bounty sponsor. They are marked with a red pouch icon and can usually be found in locations together with other opponents. You can choose how to eliminate the sponsor.