Assassin’s Creed Shadowsis excellent at teaching you many things early on. You spend hours playing as Naoe before Yasuke shows up, and by then, you’ve got a real handle on the game. However, there are plenty of things you could miss or not realize are more important than they seem initially. Learning as many tips and tricks as possible is a good idea to make the game easier.
A few things are easy to miss or even overlook because they’re not as important asother games in theAssassin’s Creedfranchise. However,you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you playedShadowslike any game beforebecause it introduces new mechanics and enemies to look out for. Seeking revenge can be much easier if you know how to give yourself easy boosts.
10Unlock Smoke Bombs Early
It’s Always A Good Idea To Have A Smoke Screen
Unlocking smoke bombs early inAssassin’s Creed Shadowscan help you with thestealth playstyle inAC Shadows. The game isn’t very good at highlighting the power of using a smoke bomb, butsmoke bombs are much more important than in previous games. Since Naoe isn’t as good of a fighter as previous assassins, she has to be able to escape fights she can’t win, which often happens if you’re not careful.
Shadowswill give you many refill locations, so you’ll never need to worry about replenishing them.
Use smoke bombs whenever necessary becauseit’s better to run away and try to regain the advantage than to take people out with Naoe. She can fight, but she’s not as powerful as Yasuke, and it’s faster to use stealth to take out enemies. So be sure to get smoke bombs as soon as you can.
9Do Not Neglect Random Encounters
Everyone Has A Way of Helping You or Is Worthy of Your Help
As you go throughAssassin’s Creed Shadows, random people will be talking, calling out to you, or just causing a ruckus. These seem inconsequential, but they’re much more valuable than you’d think.Look for speech bubble icons above the heads of NPCsand then talk to them.
The Next Assassin’s Creed Game Has A Lot To Learn From Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has amazing gameplay, from stealth to combat and even the new basebuilding, and these need to continue to the next game.
These random encounters cangive you free scouting opportunities, a quick task to earn experience, and evenMon inAC Shadowsto spend on things you need. It never takes very long to finish each random encounter, so it’s always worth stopping and seeing what the random NPCs want to tell you or are talking about.
8Retrieve Ammunition From Corpses
Always Try And Loot Fallen Enemies
Assassin’s Creed Shadowslets you loot enemies, just like most games in the series. This can be tempting to overlook since it takes time, or you have to backtrack to find them, but it’s always worth it. This is becauseyou can collect Kunai, Shuriken, and even arrows for Yasukeby looting enemies on the ground. You can overlook these things while going through the game and only realize you’re out of it during the worst moments.
It only takes a moment to loot bodies inShadows,so make sure to go out of your way to do it. You won’t regret having extra ammunition when you find yourself in situations where you’re using a lot of ammunition. This is more important for Naoe than Yasuke, but I still loot enemies when I play as Yasuke since you never know when you’ll need a full pack of arrows.
7Check Assassination Prompts Before Attacking
For Better or Worse, Not Everyone Will Die From Getting Stabbed
One of the most annoying things aboutAssassin’s Creedis that enemies can survive being stabbed in vital areas.Shadowsis no different, but there is a way to know if the enemy won’t be killed. Before you assassinate anyone,you’re going to see the prompt look either white, yellow, or red. I like to remember it this way:
You shouldmostly wait for a white prompt to assassinate anyone, but you’re going to find a lot of enemies who won’t get killed by assassinations as the game goes on. Eventually, you should start to see red as a sign not to try and yellow as a good way to start a fight. I like to use smoke bombs or kunai as a distraction or to knock enemies out if there are no options for clean kills.
6Prioritize the Tanto As Soon As You Can
Your Weapons Matter A Lot
Assassin’s Creed Shadowslets you choose what you fight with and how you use it. While this should be your decision, I recommendprioritizing the Tanto. Unlike other weapons, the Tanto gives you the hidden hand ability, which lets you one-shot enemies even when your level doesn’t match their level. I think assassinations should always be easy kills, but this is as good as you’ll get.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Best Build Guides For Naoe & Yasuke (All Play Styles)
There are a number of different build options for every play style in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, from a Tools Naoe build to a naked Yasuke build.
The Tanto also has special attacks, like the Shadow Pierce, which is powerful and will make Naoe strong enough to beat many enemies.The Tanto is also really fast, which is a considerable boost when using a character who can get overwhelmed by many enemies. So make sure to prioritize the Tanto when you’re picking weapons. It makes the game a lot easier.
5Raid Castles For Legendary Gear
It’s Not A Waste of Time To Look For Gear
Raiding castles inAssassin’s Creed Shadowsis a straightforward path togetting high-quality,legendary gear inAC Shadows.This gear isn’t cosmetic; it gives a real advantage, especially in the early game. If you focus on getting the gear quickly enough, you can level up your assassins and be far more powerful than the game expects. So, getting legendary weapons you won’t use is still worth it due to the experience you gain.
Use Yasuke to raid castles because Naoe can sneak in but won’t be helpful in the fight to open the chest.
It also doesn’t take as long to raid a castle as it does to finish certain missions. However,getting through castles normally takes a lot of fighting, so be sure you’re stocked up for a fight before raiding any castles. Even if you sneak past everyone, every castle has a Samurai Daisho, a powerful enemy you must fight to get any weapons.
4Canon Mode Speeds Things Up
You Won’t Get To Romance Anyone, Though
Assassin’s Creed Shadowsintroduces Canon mode, which keeps you from needing to make any decisions. This seems like a way to keep you from making your own choices, but it’s less of a reality than you think.The game is pretty consistent regardless of your choices, and any deviations either don’t matter much or are corrected by a side character. So you might as well not be wasting your time thinking about it.
Unfortunately, the big trade-off tocanon mode is that the romantic options are removed and will keep you to one ally. Some would disagree that you should playAC Shadows' canon modefor that reason, but I think there’s no point in it if my romance isn’t canon anyway. I don’t think much is lost using canon mode, but it’s entirely up to you to decide if this is worth doing.
3Prioritize Hideout Upgrades
This Will Get You Ready For Any Missions
The hideouts are always my priority inAssassin’s Creedgames, but some people overlook them. This isn’t something you should do inShadows, though,because neglecting to upgrade your buildings hurts your mission success. Upgrading buildings gives you more scouts, who get resources from conquered territories. That saves you time and effort, which adds up. Some buildings also give you XP and significantly improve your allies over time.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Hideout, Explained
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is introducing a new hideout system that goes beyond anything players have seen in previous games of the series.
The hideout is your central hub for your entire operation, so it should be your priority. Learn how to improve yourhideout inAC Shadows, then ensure you’re utilizing your scouts and resources. Otherwise, setting up and making it look the way you want is fun. You can always just set buildings down randomly, but you’re missing out if you don’t try and make it your own.
2Use Scouts For Resource Smuggling
Get That Stable Up & Running Fast
When given the opportunity inAssassin’s Creed Shadows, you shouldupgrade some hideout buildings first.Two important buildings are the Stables and the Study because you should utilize your scouts as soon as possible. While you can gather smaller amounts by looting and raiding, the substantial resource hauls come from larger caches in enemy strongholds and camps. You should always have your scouts busy because you really need those resources.
You get scouts back quickly by spending Mon at your Kakurega.
All you have to do istag the resource piles you want, and your scouts will discreetly handle the transport. This will leave you free to continue exploring or completing quests. I love this system, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the game because moving resources in any game can get annoying and tedious. You might not like it when you’re not getting one of the cooler buildings, but you’ll love it when you’ve got the resources to get to those buildings much more quickly.
1Master the Parry and Posture System
You Need To Be A Good Fighter
Assassin’s Creed Shadows, like every game in the series before it, has combat mechanics that you need to master if you want to survive. The parry and posture system needs to be your bread and butter if you want to do well. You’re not going to win with mindless button mashing. Instead,look for white, blue, and red attack cues before fighting. If you see a blue cue, keep parrying because you can stagger your enemy if you parry every blow.
Make sure to use a posture attack when your enemies are vulnerable. If you see an opportunity, go for it, and use special attacks to finish enemies off quickly. I’ve noticed that enemies tend to warn each other, and it’s easy to get swarmed. So make sure to master your combat techniques inAssassin’s Creed Shadowsso you may defeat anyone in your way.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Set during Japan’s Sengoku period, two distinct protagonists—Naoe, a shinobi, and Yasuke, a historical African samurai—must navigate political intrigue and violent clashes between the Assassins and Templars. Players can switch between stealthy, shadow-based gameplay with Naoe and Yasuke’s direct combat approach, exploring the duality of their missions in a beautifully rendered open world.
