You can fight the legendary Gorgon Medusa (as well as the Cyclops, the Minotaur, and the Sphinx) in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, but unfortunately, it’s a much less awe-inspiring battle than you’re probably hoping for. (1981’s Clash of the Titans is seriously worth watching—put it on your list if you’ve never seen it.)
Of the three legendary beasts that you’ll fight in the game, we think Medusa is the easiest—but she can still turn you to stone if you don’t employ the right strategy. In this guide, we’ll show you how to enter Medusa’s lair and how to claim her head once you’re inside.
Finding the Temple of the Gross Snake Lady
Once you’re level 46 or higher, head to the island of Lesbos—specifically, the village of Eresos in the Petrified Valley. Look for a woman named Bryce, who will give you a quest called Romancing the Stone Garden—she’ll ask you to find her missing lover, who was last seen in the Petrified Forest.
(If you didn’t already know that Medusa’s gaze can turn people to stone, all of these super-subtle references to stone and petrification should give you an idea of what you’re in for.)
Romancing the Stone Garden
As is often the case, an angry, uninformed mob has decided that they know what happened; they think Bryce sacrificed her lover to the evil snake-woman in the forest and they’re not big on listening to reason. Bryce will make good her escape while you dispatch the mob.
Once that’s done, follow Bryce into the forest and speak with her. After that, she’ll lead you to the last place her lover was seen, the Dread Ruins. Speak with her one last time to complete this quest.
Love’s Long Shadow
Once you talk to Bryce at the cottage, “Love’s Long Shadow” will begin and you’ll need to follow her again, this time to the Petrified Temple.
As you might have surmised if you’ve done any of the other legendary creature quests, you can’t just waltz into Medusa’s house. Once you discover that the door is locked, Bryce will tell you about a mercenary who claims to have already killed Medusa. If that’s true, he must have had the key at some point, right?
(It’s not true, and he doesn’t have the key, but he does have something else that might help. Let’s go track him down.)
A Slithery Plea
This is another multi-part quest, comprised of the two sub-quests “Heavy is the Spear” and Hard to Artemis.” It will automatically complete once the latter two are finished.
Heavy is the Spear
The mercenary you’re looking for supposedly has a spear that you’ll need to slay the Gorgon. He hangs out at the Mountain Temple of Poseidon in Lesbos. (It’s the highest peak between the Ancient Pearl and Lover’s Bay areas.) Scramble up to the top and confront the soldier.
You can just start the conversation with murder if you so choose, but if you talk to him first, you’ll learn some extra information about Medusa that’s more interesting than helpful. Either way, you’ll have to kill this guy to get the spear.
Use Shield Breaker to make this fight much easier, and dodge constantly to avoid the long reach of his spear. He can use Overpower, so watch closely for its telltale animation and steer clear of the attack. At the end of the day, the mercenary is just a regular soldier, so he shouldn’t be too hard to defeat.
As amusing as it is to kick people off of cliffs in this game, know that you’ll need to loot his body to complete the quest. Do what you will with that information.
Hard to Artemis
The disk you’ll need to unlock the gate to Medusa’s temple is in the possession of the Daughters of Artemis in Chios. Sail to its northern coast, dock at the harbor, and follow the path directly to the village. Call Ikaros to find three nearby caves, one of which harbors the disk.
Recall that Bryce asked you not to kill any of the Daughters. We’re going to assume that you’re nice enough to honor that request, so take care to sneak quietly and cautiously through the village. Stick to the foliage whenever possible and mark each Daughter you see to make it easier to keep track of them.
Two of the three caves have minor loot. The one you’re looking for is guarded by two Daughters and two giant bears, one black and one white, so it’ll be pretty clear that you’ve found the right place. Kill or sneak past the bears and fetch the disk from the chest at the back of the cave to complete the quest.
Assuming you’ve already done “Heavy is the Spear,” “A Slithery Plea” will also be marked as complete and “Keys to Happiness” will start.
Keys to Happiness
Return to Bryce at the Petrified Temple on Lesbos and speak to her. That’s all there is to this quest—once it’s done, “Writhing Dread” will begin.
STOP! Now is a good time to go make some preparations. Make sure your armor and weapons are upgraded to your current level, and that you’re fully stocked on all types of arrows.
(Remember the spear you basically stole from that mercenary? The one you supposedly have to use to kill Medusa? You don’t. Hang it up over your fireplace if you want.)
Unlike the Minotaur and Cyclops fights, where quick weapons have a clear advantage over slower ones, you can bring any weapon you like into the fight with Medusa. She’s not particularly fast, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble decking her in the face with a hammer if that’s your preference.
Writhing Dread
Use the disk to open the temple gate and prepare to be underwhelmed. Medusa’s temple is a lot like the Minotaur’s labyrinth, but even more boring. It’s just a mostly-empty series of hallways and platforms. There are treasure chests here and there, but none of them contain anything spectacular.
The temple is quite small, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding Medusa, who hangs out roughly in the center. Watch out for snakes everywhere, though. They can bite you, but they’re also a sign that you’re headed in the right direction.
When you’re ready to challenge the snake-lady, she’ll encase herself in an orange orb that makes her invulnerable. She’ll summon several stone soldiers to attack you, and she’ll also fire eye lasers at you that will petrify you if you remain in their path for more than a few seconds.
This battle might seem overwhelming at first, but it’s actually quite simple. Your first priority should be avoiding the eye beams; you can do that either by hiding behind one of the pillars around the outer edge of the room or by simply sprinting and dodging until the lasers stop. Attack the soldiers whenever you find an opening, but never expose yourself to the lasers in order to do so.
Once you’ve slain a handful of soldiers, Medusa will drop her shield and fall to the ground. Close the distance and hit her until she teleports away. When she does so, she’ll reappear somewhere else in the arena, but she’ll be almost invisible, so look for a distorted, shimmering patch of air to find her. Hit her some more, but watch out for lightning bolts that she can summon. (Each one is preceded by a warning indicator on the ground, so they’re not hard to dodge.)
Whenever possible, attack Medusa from the back or side. If you attack her from the front, she may use her most damaging attack (other than the lasers), a grab-and-stab combo that can shave off two-thirds of your health. Ranged fighters should feel free to bombard her with arrows, but don’t bother with poison or fire—they do so little damage that they aren’t worth your time.
Once you’ve taken Medusa down to about 75% health, she’ll return to her orb and summon more soldiers. This cycle is exactly the same as the last one; you’ll need to do the same sequence of events four times to defeat her. Just remember: defense before offense. Avoid the eye lasers and lightning bolts, and attack the soldiers or Medusa only when you have a clear opening. Do that, and you’ll cut her down in no time.
Congratulations!
For besting the snake-woman, you’ll receive a Piece of Eden (required for a main story quest later on), a Medusa figurehead for your ship, and one of the best swords in the game: the Harpe of Perseus, which grants +15% Hunter damage, +25% crit damage, and +25% cooldown speed for all abilities.
Do you need help with other monsters? We’ve got guides for each of them, as well as a guide to getting the best (and semi-secret) ending in “Dagger to the Heart.” Other quest endings and important main story points are listed in our guide to Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey choices.