5 Essential Tips for Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
The world of feudal Japan in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is vast and full of dangers, and the first few hours of gameplay can be overwhelming. Whether you’re exploring rooftops with Naoe or using Yasuke’s brute force, every choice matters. To make your adventure easier, we’ve prepared 5 essential tips that will help you navigate efficiently, optimise your equipment, and make the most of the game’s mechanics.
1. Explore, explore, explore
While it might seem obvious to some, exploration is the bread and butter of this game. Don't forget to use Naoe, as she's the only one who can scale buildings! Roam far and wide across every corner of the map to discover the famous synchronisation points that will mark points of interest on your map. Go to these and rummage through all the drawers, chests, and corpses of those who dared to stand in your way! Absolutely everything you find will be helpful for the next point.
2. Advance the story!
You don't need to play much of the story once you've acquired the protagonist. Immediately after finishing the introduction, follow the main story until you receive the house and adjacent land to build your base! All the resources you discovered by exploring feudal Japan will be used here. Advancing your base and building new structures will bring you many benefits, such as the forge that allows you to upgrade your equipment, accommodation to increase the number of spies you can recruit, or even a small shrine to boost the experience gained from all activities!
3. An assassin's best friend is the tanto!
Since much of the exploration will be done with Naoe, it's imperative to get a tanto (dagger). This weapon will allow you to perform double assassinations (once you've obtained the ability from the skill tree) and has the most powerful abilities in the game. Whether you want to slow down time or eviscerate enemies, the tanto significantly eases gameplay.
4. Don't tread through the forest!
While I said in point 1 that it's important to explore everything, anything that needs exploring will be highlighted by synchronisation points. Much of the map is covered by forests, but these are purely decorative. You won't find absolutely anything if the location itself isn't a point of interest. And if night catches you out here, activate eagle vision and look for a main road, because we don't have the ability to use a torch to light our way.
5. Ease your experience
Not everyone will agree with the RPG elements, with assassinations tied to equipment level, or using spies to find a target's location. And if you don't like it either, you don't have to suffer. There are plenty of modifications that can be made from the game's options menu. For example, we can completely get rid of spies and see exactly where any target is (but this will mean certain missions become pointless), or we can experience the game in canon mode, as the developers intended. In this mode, the dialogue wheel will disappear, and absolutely all decisions are made automatically, which will block certain trophies.
With these 5 essential tips, your start in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will be much easier and more satisfying. Whether you choose to explore, customise your combat style, or adjust settings for a more authentic experience, every decision will bring you closer to becoming a true assassin.
