Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor: How to get the Sakai horse armor

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island Sakai horse armor
(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

The Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor might be the coolest armor set yet, and it's all for your four-legged pal. To accompanying the new horse charge ability introduced in the freshly dropped expansion, you can get a new armor set that turns your steed into a dragon with antlers. It just so happened to belong to Jin's father, so it turns out this is the Iki Island Sakai horse armor set, and it's seriously impressive. 

It also requires quite the platforming section to even find, so prepare yourself for some leaping and swinging before you can get back to charging through Mongols. 

Legacy of Kazumasa Sakai

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor guide - the Legacy of Kazumasa Sakai mission

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

The first thing you'll need to do is unlock the specific quest, and that's done by completing the main mission known as A Raider's Return. This will end with you unlocking a main base known as Fuge's Return, which in turn spawns a few new missions. A blue Mythic Tale will appear on the east of the map called The Legacy of Kazumasa Sakai, and is the one you'll want to start if you fancy getting the horse armor. 

The mission will take you to a location called the Sheltered Campsite, where an older gentlemen is telling a tale of Jin's own father - also known as The Butcher of Iki. Unfortunately, things will take a turn and you'll be thrown out of the camp. You'll instead have to sneak back in to hear the rest of the story and learn of what happened to the legendary Sakai horse armor. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor guide - Jin being kicked from the camp

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

Doing so will allow you to discover that the horse armor went down with a fleet of ships that smashed against the rocky coastline of Iki's Zasho Bay - handily just a little meander down the beach from the campsite itself. 

How to get the Iki Island Sakai horse armor

Now begins the platforming section that - I'll be honest - drove me slightly mad. You'll want to start all the way to the left of the shipwrecks, and grapple up the rear of that first boat, before making your way to the very front. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

At the front right-hand corner of the bow is a rope that leads up to the top of the sails of the next boat. Run across here, and then leap across to the rope beyond the mast. When you reach the second mast, run along the wooden beam, and leap to the rock between you and a third mast. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

Make your way from the rock to the next mast, run along that beam, then drop down to the rock ahead of you, and then down again into the rockpool below where there are a few items to pick up. 

Protruding from this rockpool is another wreckage. Use your grapple hook to pull down the mast here, and then return to the higher level of the rock to use the now accessible mast. You'll need to swing across from the mast to a tree stump on the rock beyond. Warning, if you miss this you will have to go back to the start. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

From the stump, run around the length of this rocky platform to the highest point, by the broken box with the leather inside. Then, from here, leap to the mast and run to the end, at which point it'll break and plunge you into the depths below. 

Directly ahead of you is a small gap in the wreckage. Swim through and then turn immediately to your left, where there's some land you can stand on. Directly ahead of you is a large shipwreck, and just at the base of this is a small piece of wood you can pull free with your grapple. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

With the wreckage freed, you can then walk through it to reach another rocky outcrop with a smashed box atop of it. Jump off the end of the broken piece of mast lying across the end of the rock to grapple to another mast and into a pool beyond. 

There's another shipwreck in this pool, where you'll need to use your grapple hook to release the mast. But, once you've done that you'll need to swim out of this pool entirely - there's a gap all the way to the right of this shipwreck where you can exit.

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

From there keep heading right, swim under another shipwreck, and then head back to the spot where you used your grapple to release the entire boat. Climb back up here, go across the rock, and then swing across the series of three masts to reach the deck of - you guessed it - another shipwreck. 

You'll have another Eagle vision here, so wait until that has passed before using your grapple hook on the mast here. This will send the huge beam crashing down so that you can walk along it to a rock, where there's a rope you can use to carry on towards a seaweed covered rock. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

Now, take the next sequence steady - we're almost done. These slippery rocks are also in a rough patch of the ocean, meaning waves are going to come and knock you off if you don't time it right. 

Thankfully the path is quite obvious here. Jump from that first seaweed-covered rock, and then grapple over to the next one. From there, jump up to the rope hanging from the small boat, and make your way to the mast. Then you've got two more weeded rocks to navigate against the waves under reaching solid ground once more. 

Just make sure you wait for each wave to hit before moving through this section, as if you're blasted off course you'll have to restart this particular section. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

After the seaweed rock section, you'll find yourself in another little basin of water. Head down the slope and then jump into the water to reach the rock opposite. Cross the beam, but it'll collapse into the water. Instead, head right and there's a rocky outcrop that curve around the back of the boat above. 

Head around the back and use the rope to reach the mast emerging from the water. You can then jump from here to one last seaweed-covered rock (watch out for the waves), and then leap to grapple yourself into the boat above. 

Within, you'll finally find your goal. The head of the Iki Island horse armor is presented inside the rear of the boat ready for the taking. 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island horse armor walkthrough

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

When your horse is wearing the Sakai armor, your horse charge will inflict more damage, and any incoming attacks are far less likely to dismount Jin. Plus, your horse looks like an utter badass. 

Ghost of Tsushima tips | Ghost of Tsushima map | Ghost of Tsushima best armor | Ghost of Tsushima best skills | Ghost of Tsushima best charms | Ghost of Tsushima Mythic Tales | How long is Ghost of Tsushima | Ghost of Tsushima Shinto Shrines | Ghost of Tsushima Bamboo Strikes | Ghost of Tsushima duels | Ghost of Tsushima Hot Springs | Ghost of Tsushima Fox Dens | Ghost of Tsushima Komatsu Forge | How to get the grappling hook in Ghost of Tsushima | Ghost of Tsushima horse | Ghost of Tsushima supplies | Ghost of Tsushima observe leader  

Sam Loveridge
Global Editor-in-Chief, GamesRadar+

Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.