Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Tools and Upgrade Guide

In *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, players can choose between Yasuke and Naoe, each offering unique approaches to tackling challenges. Here's a comprehensive guide on the tools available and how to upgrade them to enhance your gameplay experience.

All Tools in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

In *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, players can utilize five distinct tools, with two unlocked through story progression. These tools are essential for both exploration and combat:

Grappling Hook

Naoe's Grappling Hook is a game-changer for exploration, allowing you to latch onto structures and ascend effortlessly. It's perfect for reaching high vantage points quickly and silently, providing strategic advantages during reconnaissance. You can also swing across wide gaps, making navigation smoother and more dynamic.

Kunai

The Kunai is a lethal throwing knife that delivers devastating damage. Ideal for silent takedowns, it can instantly eliminate common enemies. However, to tackle armored foes, upgrades are necessary to enhance its effectiveness and penetration.

Smoke Bomb

The Smoke Bomb serves dual purposes as a defensive and offensive tool. Deploy it to break the line of sight with enemies, facilitating stealthy escapes, or use it during combat to create confusion, enabling surprise attacks and quick strikes within the smoke.

Shuriken

Shuriken, the classic ninja throwing star, is perfect for navigating heavily guarded areas. While less damaging than Kunai, it can stagger enemies and trigger environmental hazards like alarm bells or explosive barrels. Its silence makes it invaluable for stealth operations, and upgrades allow it to ricochet for increased impact.

Shinobi Bell

For those who prefer distraction over direct confrontation, the Shinobi Bell is key. When thrown, it draws enemy attention, clearing a path or setting up crowd control. Upgrades can extend its range and add a gold shimmer, enhancing its distracting capabilities.

How To Upgrade Tools in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Upgrading tools in *Assassin’s Creed Shadows* involves using Mastery Points within the Tools skill tree, except for the Grappling Hook. Here's how to enhance each tool:

Grappling Hook

The only upgrade for the Grappling Hook, found in the Shinobi Tree, is Ascension Boost. For 2 Mastery Points at Knowledge Rank 2, this upgrade significantly speeds up Naoe's climbing, making it easier to ascend buildings undetected.

Kunai

To maximize the Kunai's potential, focus on upgrades like Kunai Assassination Damage to increase its lethality per throw. Enhance its armor-piercing capabilities with the Armor Piercing passive skill, and use Everlast to ensure the Kunai can be retrieved without breaking.

Smoke Bomb

After unlocking the Smoke Bomb, upgrade it with Enduring Haze to extend its duration by 10 seconds, offering more time to maneuver. Further enhance it with Widespread to increase the smoke's area of effect, obscuring more enemies from view.

Shuriken

Upgrade the Shuriken with Bank Shot to enable ricocheting between targets, amplifying damage with each hit. Triple Threat allows you to throw three Shurikens simultaneously for the cost of one, providing versatile options in both stealth and combat scenarios.

Shinobi Bell

Enhance the Shinobi Bell with Golden Bell to make it more effective at drawing enemy attention. Follow up with Louder Chimes to increase its effective radius by five meters, allowing it to distract a larger group of enemies with a single throw.

Understanding and upgrading these tools in *Assassin’s Creed Shadows* will significantly enhance your gameplay, allowing for more strategic and effective approaches to challenges. For further guidance, check out resources on The Escapist.

*Assassin’s Creed Shadows* is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.