Assassin’s Creed Shadows – 15 Tips and Tricks to Keep in Mind

As a gamer diving headfirst into the immersive universe of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, I can assure you that feudal Japan has been meticulously brought to life, offering an expansive landscape filled with captivating sights, intriguing locations, hidden activities, and a plethora of things to do. Much like its predecessors in the Assassin’s Creed series, there’s so much happening that it’s easy to overlook some aspects of the game. To help you navigate this open-world action RPG smoothly and make the most of your adventure, here are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind – ranging from the obvious to the not-so-obvious.

STICK TO THE SHADOWS

Kick things off by delving into the fundamental aspects first. The game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, returns the series to its core stealth elements, and it achieves this by incorporating numerous key new systems and mechanisms. As the title implies, the primary one revolves around exploiting shadows for your benefit. Essentially, whenever Naoe or Yasuke are concealed within shadows, they become nearly invisible to enemies. To maintain a stealthy approach, strive to stay away from light and light sources as much as feasible – this means also putting out lamps and eliminating light sources to generate additional hiding spots when necessary.

SEASONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES

The seasons in “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” fluctuate frequently, not only altering the landscape visually but also influencing gameplay mechanics. For example, during winter, you can knock icicles off buildings from a distance. This action produces noise that will draw enemies towards you, or if someone is beneath them, it can even cause harm. Conversely, guards may become aware of your presence more easily when they spot footprints in the snow. Be mindful of these shifting environments across various seasons.

ASSASSIN MASTERY TREE

In the initial stages of “Shadows”, you’ll find yourself mostly playing as Naoe, a character with a stealth emphasis, making it wise to focus on upgrading her Assassin Mastery skill tree first. Key enhancements in this tree include increased damage with her Hidden Blade and the ability to perform double assassinations, which are particularly crucial early on and should be prioritized over other options for maximum effectiveness.

KNOWLEDGE RANK

Advancing through Mastery trees in Shadows isn’t a quick process since the game doesn’t allow you to rush through them at your preferred pace. The trees are structured with multiple tiers, and each tier can only be unlocked once you’ve reached the next Knowledge rank. However, gaining Knowledge depends on participating in various open world activities such as completing castles, locating missing temple pages, discovering meditation spots for Naoe, and more. So, it’s essential to actively participate in these open-world activities, as your progression will be greatly restricted if you don’t.

KUKUREGA

In the expansive open-world map of Shadows, multiple cities, villages, and outposts of assorted sizes are sprinkled, and among them lie kukuregas for players to discover and activate. Essentially serving as temporary bases separate from your main Hideout (details coming up), once you’ve purchased the unlock for a kukurega, it becomes a quick travel point, offers the chance to restock on rations and supplies, and more. Our tip is: whenever you come across a kukurega, make sure to activate it.

KEEP DOING CONTRACTS

At every kukurega, you also have the option to take on contracts, similar to every Assassin’s Creed game where we strongly suggest not skipping. These contracts can provide substantial amounts of money and XP, and often come with valuable rewards such as equipment. So, it’s always a good idea to spend some time completing a contract or two occasionally.

SCOUTS

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Naoe and Yasuke have a growing team of scouts at their disposal that are vital for locating quest objectives and targets. However, in the initial stages of gameplay, you might frequently find yourself running out of these scouts. At such times, it would be beneficial to visit a kukurega to replenish your scout numbers by paying a specific amount of money. Alternatively, you can simply wait for the season to change, which will automatically and without cost, restore all your scouts.

HIDEOUT UPGRADES

In my excitement as a fan, I can’t help but share that in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it doesn’t take long for you to find your way to the Hideout – your central hub of activities. Just like in other Assassin’s Creed games, this hideout is yours to tailor and expand. While cosmetic tweaks are indeed part of the fun, a large portion of the upgrades you’ll be making will directly affect gameplay mechanics, so it’s definitely not advisable to overlook the Hideout or its available enhancements.

STEALING SUPPLIES

Regarding enhancements for your Hideout, Shadows necessitates unique resources such as wood, crops, and others for every improvement or modification of your HQ, including constructing new structures and upgrading existing ones. Therefore, it’s wise to be on the lookout for hidden caches that your scouts can retrieve for the Hideout, or for supplies and stashes scattered in camps, castles, and bases that you can secretly acquire yourself.

UNLOCK THE FORGE

Straight away, you’ll find a lot to enhance and improve in the Hideout. Initially, it would be best to concentrate on the Forge as this is where you upgrade the gear and weapons you currently possess. In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, upgrading your equipment proves to be significantly more crucial than in any previous games within the series. Our advice is to frequently revisit the Hideout so that you can periodically visit the Forge and enhance your preferred items.

UNLOCK THE STUDY

A useful facility to unlock promptly in Hideout is the Study. We previously discussed the significance of maintaining a sufficient number of scouts. The Study allows you to boost your maximum scout capacity, making it beneficial throughout most of the game as it helps prevent scout shortages.

USE YOUR ALLIES

In the game Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll occasionally gain new allies that you can call upon to assist you during battles, stealth, or even as a distraction. These allies can be particularly useful in intense combat situations, but they also serve a strategic purpose during stealth missions. Carefully choosing when and whom to summon can lead to clever and effective strategies on-the-fly, enhancing your gameplay experience.

KEEP CHANGING YOUR GEAR

In the style of previous Assassin’s Creed action RPGs like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, equipment plays a vital role in the game’s progression system. However, unlike before, your gear and weapons feel less expendable as they usually come with benefits that are genuinely influential – such as boosting your Adrenaline gains or enabling you to inflict an extra health bar’s worth of damage during assassination attempts. Even if a piece of equipment’s raw value is lower, it can still be quite beneficial in specific situations. Consequently, it’s wise to frequently change the gear and weapons you’re using based on the circumstances you encounter.

MERCHANTS

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, merchants are scattered all over the map. Normally, in Assassin’s Creed games, merchants can be easily overlooked, but in this game, it’s beneficial to give them a second look. Merchants offer unique and exclusive goods, and their inventory changes with the changing seasons. So, it’s wise to check back with them regularly to see if they have anything valuable that you might want to buy.

SKETCHING ANIMALS

In the game “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” one enjoyable pastime is discovering and drawing various animals. This activity doesn’t provide any rewards linked to progression, but it’s enjoyable just because you’re capturing images of wild animals! There’s a diverse range of them to find, each living in their natural environments and engaging in different activities. They are definitely worth searching for. Additionally, there are dogs and cats of various sizes scattered throughout Japan, so don’t forget to look out for those cute pets too.

2025-03-20 06:42

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