Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Should You Sneak Into The Winter Palace or Follow Nehal?

Early in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, players will see that Basim is eager to impress The Hidden Ones and enter their ranks. To do this, he’s willing to break into the Winter Palace and risk his life for something they desire.

Basim’s friend Nehal joins him, and players are given a choice. They can follow Nehal into the palace or sneak in a different way. Based on what players do, this choice can make the mission easier or more challenging.

Related: Assassin’s Creed Mirage Complete Guide: Collectibles, Quests, Mysteries & Trailer

Should You Sneak Into The Winter Palace or Follow Nehal in Assassin’s Creed Mirage

There can be quite a big difference in a player’s experience depending on whether they sneak into the Winter Palace or follow Nehal. Below, we’ve broken down what happens with each option to show how they differ but also how they converge.

Note that both choices lead to the same eventual outcome. The change that players will see is in their approach to reaching their goal. We believe one way is better for player experience than the other because of what we got out of it.

What Happens if You Follow Nehal Into The Winter Palace in Assassin’s Creed Mirage

If players follow Nehal into the Winter Palace, they’ll take a route inside that’s relatively quiet and free of guards. The advantage of this choice is that it allows players to work with another character to dispatch any guards they encounter.

However, following Nehal leads to the same choke point in the mission. There’s a door players must pass through, and it’s locked. Players must pickpocket a key from a guard on the first floor to get through it. When they have this key, they can move through the door and trigger the next stage of the mission.

How to Sneak Into The Winter Palace and What Happens if You Do

If players sneak into the Winter Palace, they’ll need to find their own way inside. The way we managed to do this was to drop down as Nehal does and approach the palace. Then, we chose to stick to the left-hand side of the main building and follow it around.

There’s an open window on this side of the palace through which Basim can enter. The icon for sneaking into the palace will appear in the window when players approach, showing that they should use this route to get inside.

We believe this way of entering the palace is easier and better because it gets players close to a few lootable chests and allows them to get a full view of the location. Using Eagle Vision, we saw that a guard on the first floor had a key and knew instantly that we’d need it.

This route avoids following Nehal and suddenly realizing that a key is required. We also feel that this method of approach fits Basim’s personality better. He’s out to prove himself and doesn’t want Nehal there. He’s trying to do things his own way and thinks he’s able to. Then, he very quickly realizes that’s just not the case as the story unfolds.