Assassin’s Creed Shadows Progression Breakdown

Assassin’s Creed Shadows - Progression Breakdown

On March 1st, Ubisoft released the Assassin's Creed Shadows Progression overview article. This article gives us a deep dive into the gear, playstyles and perks that affect gameplay.

A NEW WAY TO PROGRESS

Julien, the Associate Game Director on Shadows says: ‘Having two separate characters with unique archetypes in our feudal Japan world pushed us to rethink how we wanted to approach player progression.’ ‘Our goal was to stay as close as possible to the philosophy of mastery and martial art.’ This is reflected through Mastery (skill points) and Knowledge (ranks). The game cleverly weaves Japanese culture into its system.

Mastery

In Assassin's Creed Shadows, there are multiple mastery trees to invest in, each one dedicated to Naoe and Yasuke respectively. These trees are linked to the specific weapons that each protagonist wields and their archetypes: Shinobi and Assassin for Naoe and Samurai for Yasuke.

Each weapon tree allows Naoe and Yasuke to learn new combos, increase weapon efficacy and unlock unique abilities. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the archetype trees will allow both characters to lean into the unique aspects that define their character.

Yasuke will be able to leverage his Samurai training to become more effective in combat by being able to switch weapons mid-combo. Naturally, Naoe is able to invest in her stealth and assassinate her enemies.

‘With the unique Mastery trees, we want to give players the freedom to dedicate themselves to a specific weapon, playstyle, or archetype and ensure they can deepen their mastery of it,’ says Julien. ‘The points you invest in a Mastery tree also unlock additional bonuses for that weapon or archetype, further reinforcing your progress.’

To earn Mastery points, players will need to earn them through completing quests and activities. Furthermore, the points can be gained from defeating formidable enemies such as the Samurai Daisho, found only in castles or eliminating main story targets. Mastery points can be reset at any time, if players wish to switch up their playstyle.

It's important to note that Naoe and Yasuke share level, XP, Mastery and Knowledge points and are earned equally, meaning no character will be left in the dust.

Abilities

Abilities make a return from previous Assassin's Creed games and can be found in the Mastery trees. In combat, each weapon has two active ability slots for any unlocked ability.

Once unlocked, each ability can be upgraded multiple times adding new gameplay elements and dealing more damage to opponents.

The Samurai and Shinobi trees have their own abilities, and while you can only equip one at a time, they are available no matter your equipped weapon.

Eagle-eyed gamers will notice that not all skills are available at once. Some abilities will require an increased Knowledge rank to acquire them.

In a rewarding gameplay twist, some abilities require you to complete unique actions. One example of this is having to assassinate an enigmatic, mysterious group of Shinobi to unlock the last assassination upgrade.

Knowledge Ranks

Building on integrating Japanese culture into Shadows, ‘Knowledge is an abstraction of your mind aka your mental readiness.’ From a gameplay perspective, certain upgrades will only become available once a character reaches a certain knowledge rank.

Knowledge can be earned throughout Shadows by completing different types of non-violent activities such as finding lost pages in temples, praying at shrines and paying homage to the gods, unburdening yourself via Kuji-kiri meditation with Naoe and learning new Kata (techniques) with Yasuke.

This is another example in which Ubi Quebec hopes to ‘connect the development of our dual character’s minds with their physical skills.’ While some activities are character-specific, Knowledge will still be shared between Naoe and Yasuke, so the more they grow as individuals, the more they benefit from each other.

Teasing the Endgame

By reaching the 6th Rank of Knowledge, you will have obtained all the skills available to unlock in your Mastery Trees, but this is not the end of your progression. Naoe and Yasuke will gain access to a brand-new Knowledge tree, which will offer many passive skills and allow you to maximise specific states to embrace your ideal playstyle.

Equipment and Stats / Inventory

While also improving your Mastery and Knowledge, you’ll need to manage your equipment, ensuring it fits your playstyle and makes you as effective as possible. In your inventory, you can equip up to two weapons at once (including a ranged weapon for Yasuke), a headgear piece, armour, and a trinket or amulet. All of them have a level, quality rating and stats that will contribute to the total character stats of Naoe or Yasuke. Furthermore, you can equip and customise your horse and its saddle, complementing your look. These, however, are purely cosmetic.

Enemy Resistance

At the start of Shadows, you’ll begin with a hidden blade that can slice two health segments away, meaning that if an enemy has more than two health segments, you’ll be unable to assassinate them outright. You can use the Observe mechanic to identify these enemies. Additionally, when you target an enemy for assassination, the colour of their health will indicate the outcome of an assassination attempt. White means a guaranteed assassination, yellow will deal damage and red means the enemy will deny your attempt.

To smoothly assassinate an enemy, it would be wise to improve your assassination damage via the Mastery Trees, equip gear and weapons that offer additional assassination damage or engrave bonuses on gear using the forge. Some of these bonuses are contextual, giving you an advantage in specific scenarios. The examples are: ‘adding +1 damage segment to air assassinations or +2 damage segments to assassinations attempts at night.

Enemies marked 5+ level over your current level will be emblazoned with a skull icon, indicating they are stronger than you and therefore, you'll likely be unable to defeat them. You should always be mindful of the region you are in and who you are facing to provide the best chance of success.

Finding Gear and Weapons

Assassin's Creed Shadows includes a wide range of gorgeous gear sets - each with its visual variations for Yasuke and Naoe. As expected, gear and weapons can be found in chests or looted from enemies. According to the article, the gear is largely randomised, hoping to give the player a unique sense of discovery throughout their journey.

Interestingly, Shadows also offers predetermined items placed throughout the world. These are usually of legendary quality and can be obtained by killing specific targets or looting castle chests. From this information, it sounds like the best of both worlds, with Valhalla and Odyssey's gear system mixed into one.

Gear Quality

Shadows has five quality levels of gear that will influence how powerful a piece of equipment might be and how much it can impact your playstyle.

Common equipment is the lowest and has the most basic stats
Uncommon has improved stats and one perk
Rare is stronger with the opportunity to engrave a second perk at the Forge
Epic adds a chance to have one core stat boosted
Last but not least, legendary equipment has unique, handpicked stats, a gameplay-focused perk and a slot for engraving.

As you play, it would be wise to keep upgrading your gear at the forge - ensuring that your favourite gear is strong enough to meet the challenges ahead.

The article goes on to say that following feedback from the preview event of Shadows, new items will be marked with an icon for Naoe or Yasuke, so that players will have at-a-glance understanding of who the loot is for.

Visual Customisation (Transmog) and Loadouts

Those players who value style, and stats, will be pleased to know that transmog makes a return in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. To unlock the feature, players need to build the forge in their Hideout, and subsequently, it can be done directly from the inventory menu without the need for in-game currency.

"Overall, the Forge plays a key part in managing your inventory" says Julien "there you can upgrade or dismantle weapons & gear, but we will share more in an upcoming article on the Hideout."

In a first for Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft Quebec has innovated on transmog, allowing players to customise the look of every component of their weapons. ‘Not only can you switch the visual of one weapon to another, you can also mix and match the look of its different parts. The final result could be the blade of one weapon, with the guard of another, and the handle of your newly acquired one.’

On a personal note, this is one of my favourite additions to Shadows. As a weapons nerd, this brings Assassin’s Creed closer to my dream of being able to directly affect gameplay by changing the profile of your weapon, its weight etc.

Once you’ve created your perfect fit, you can display it in the Gallery (once constructed) in the Hideout. Not only can you display your gear in the Hideout, but you can also store your unique gear configurations as well.

Customising Your Playstyle

Each piece of equipment has stats that can affect vital game mechanics such as base attacks, posture attacks, critical damage and many more. It will be up to you to find ideal synergies between gear, weapons and skills for your ideal playstyle.

Perks

In what has become a staple of Assassin’s Creed games of late, perks are a great way to modify, enhance or specialise a particular piece of equipment to your liking. In Shadows, hundreds of perks can be found, looted, purchased or obtained by constructing your Forge in the Hideout. Perks can also be obtained by completing specific activities in-game. For example, the article states that ‘completing a specific number of air assassinations can unlock a perk to remove an additional health segment while doing an air assassination.’

Perks can affect stats, induce afflictions to weaken enemies or ‘feature exotic conditions that inspire you to play differently.’ The example given by the article is a ‘perk can boost your base damage the more adrenaline chunks filled, so it encourages you to play without Abilities in exchange for hitting enemies much harder.’

Unsurprisingly, legendary perks are the most unique ones. What makes them legendary is their ability to affect a game mechanic instead of boosting a stat. The many perks you collect on your journey can be used once you construct the Forge at your Hideout. Engraving perks that combine well can enhance your playstyle and create synergies between your equipment.

Exotic Combat with Naoe

This mix of gear allows Naoe to knock down enemies with a slide, deal more damage with a ground attack and vault over them for a quick back attack. This mix of moves allows Naoe to keep enemies surprised by engaging and disengaging at will.

Ranged Stealth Build with Yasuke

In my previous gameplay breakdown article, I highlighted Yasuke’s ability to use his bow to take down his foes from the shadows. The following clip demonstrates a legendary build that enhances ranged damage and uses perks to allow Yasuke to one-shot the formidable Samurai Daisho. One thing that I found interesting was watching Yasuke’s arm tremble after a few seconds of pulling back the bowstring. This means you’ll have to aim quickly and precisely or lead your shot astray.

Afflictions

Some weapons allow for inducing afflictions. This replaces one of the weapon’s stat boosts. Afflictions will require a build-up time to be effective. The length of this is affected by perks and gear, so they are more effective on enemies with a large health pool. There are currently four different types of afflictions:

Bleed

Bleed simply does a ton of damage once the affliction buildup is reached and then resets.

Poison

Poison will become active during buildup, dealing light damage over time while also interrupting enemies and causing them to vomit.

Daze

Enemies are dazed for a time after the buildup has been reached. While dazed, enemies will miss most of their attacks and won’t be able to defend from your attacks.

Knock Out

A KO’ed enemy will stay grounded for a time. Unlike the others, this affliction is most induced by abilities or when an enemy is grabbed and then knocked out by either Naoe or Yasuke.

Trading & Merchants

Trading will be key in improving both Naoe and Yasuke further. Throughout Japan, you’ll find merchants in cities and itinerant merchants that roam the lands. Each merchant will be focused on selling different items, from gear to resources and cosmetics. Of course, you can also sell your unwanted resources, gear and valuables in exchange for the currency at the time: Mons. Furthermore, merchants sell unique items not found anywhere else.

That’s it for this breakdown of the progression in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. If you enjoyed this and want to know more on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the Creed Scholars website has tons of Shadows coverage and is your hub for the history, art and science of Assassin’s Creed.

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