Assassin’s Creed Shadows offers a new approach to stealth and combat, dynamic seasons, and a demanding Expert Mode that amplifies enemy AI. Whether you’re a newcomer to the game or an experienced assassin, this guide will assist you in mastering the complex mechanics, refining your strategies, and getting the most from the game’s rich world.
Why You Should Play on Expert Mode
Expert Mode changes the gameplay experience drastically, making enemies quicker, more aggressive, and far deadlier. If you let yourself get surrounded, you can be in for a battle.
- Increased Tactical Combat: On Expert Mode, enemies block more, have reduced attack telegraphs, and attack more regularly.
- Stealth Improvements: The AI has better vision, so it’s simpler for enemies to detect you. Still, hiding in foliage or employing the terrain still makes stealthy takeouts possible.
- Personalize Your Challenge: Stealth mode and combat mode can be set individually in the options menu, even after beginning a new save file.
Seasonal Changes & How They Affect Gameplay
The environment in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is dynamic, with seasonal changes affecting gameplay and stealth mechanics directly.
Winter Challenges:
- Slippery Surfaces: Bodies of water freeze over, making it more difficult to traverse.
- Loud Icicles: Dislodging icicles from rooftops can give away your location.
- Bare Fields: Once green hiding spots become exposed, stealth becomes more challenging.
Summer & Spring Advantages:
- Growth of Vegetation: Some fields become overgrown with vegetation, offering new opportunities for stealth.
- Underwater Breathing: Nai can employ reeds to breathe forever underwater in shallow water, providing an interesting means of avoiding enemies.
- Weather Conditions: Blizzards, storms, and heavy rain decrease enemy vision and hearing, making stealth an option.
Stealth & Combat Tricks
- Employ Shadows: Dynamic light control impacts enemy visibility. Dropping down to lower stance when in shadows reduces detection even more.
- Silent Kills Through Walls: Nai can kill enemies silently through soft materials, providing a new layer of tactical depth.
- Night vs. Day Loadouts: Certain gear Engravings provide bonuses during nighttime. It might be worth having separate loadouts that are optimized for daytime and nighttime.
- Parry & Deflect Projectiles: Yasuke can learn an Engraving that lets him deflect normally undeflectable red attacks, making combat feel more fluid and skill-based.
Upgrading Your Hideout
Your hideout is crucial for advancement. Building and upgrading structures opens up useful new features:
- The Gallery: Allows loadout presets, so you can switch gear quickly.
- Stables: Boosts your resource output over time.
- Ginga Building: Increases shrine boons, providing you with more powerful temporary boosts.
- Pet Collection: Any creature you pet in the open world can be returned to your hideout, allowing you to build your own mini wildlife reserve.
Effective Resource Farming
To upgrade your hideout and gear, you’ll need a steady supply of materials. Here are some effective methods:
- Mark Enemy Stockpiles: Before a season change, ensure your Scouts have marked large resource stockpiles for extraction.
- Seize Floating Fortresses: These massive ships aren’t marked on the map but contain a wealth of valuable materials.
- Visit City Traders: Buy and sell materials wisely, keeping an eye on seasonal price fluctuations.
Don’t Miss Gold Reward Side Quests
Gold is an extremely useful resource, levelling up any item of equipment to your top level automatically. Focus on side quests that reward gold to progress your way as much as possible.
Final Thoughts
Assassin’s Creed Shadows features a complex interplay of stealth, combat, and world-building. Optimize your equipment, utilize seasonal fluctuations to your advantage, or develop mastery of Expert Mode: this guide has got you covered. Share your feedback about the game, and good hunting!
