Assassin's Creed Shadows: XP and Progression Guide

Assassin’s Creed Shadows features a wide array of skills for players to unlock and master. To level up your Samurai and Shinobi efficiently, you'll want to accumulate XP as quickly as possible. Here’s the fastest way to do just that.

Table of contents

What Grants XP in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? AnsweredHow to Earn Fast XP from Castles in Assassin’s Creed ShadowsAssassinating Targets Yields Major XP Rewards in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

What Grants XP in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Answered

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you gain XP to level up through many different actions and tasks. Defeating enemies, eliminating targets, finishing quests, and engaging with various side activities all reward XP. However, the amount of XP each quest and activity provides can differ significantly, so focusing on specific types will help you maximize your time.

You can see how much XP a quest or activity offers by hovering over it on the map or in the objectives tab. By far, the two fastest methods to earn large amounts of XP in Assassin’s Creed Shadows are clearing castles and pursuing optional assassinations.

How to Get Fast XP from Castles in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Numerous castles are scattered across Japan in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Each castle is heavily guarded by basic and elite soldiers and contains a set number of Samurai Daisho that must be eliminated. Once you defeat the required number of Daisho in a castle, you can claim the area's chest, which contains high-tier gear.

Castles are an incredible source of XP in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Each castle grants several thousand XP just for completing the activity, but there are additional ways to earn XP as well. Defeating each enemy in the area provides XP, with elite fighters and Samurai Daisho offering particularly large bonuses—often around 250 XP. Many castles also feature a high viewpoint your character can synchronize with. Synchronizing awards extra XP (usually a few hundred) and these locations act as fast travel points if you need to switch between protagonists.

The main drawback of farming castles for XP is that they can be quite challenging. Here are our tips to simplify the process so you can earn more XP even faster.

Which protagonist you select for a castle assault is crucial. Naoe has Eagle Vision, which she uses to scout for enemies and tag targets to quickly locate the castle’s Samurai Daisho. Using stealth to assassinate a Daisho is much faster than facing them in open combat. However, you’ll need to invest in abilities and gear enhancements that boost Naoe’s assassination damage to ensure she can kill a Daisho instantly every time.

When you're at a low to medium level, it’s more effective to play as Yasuke to clear a castle quickly. Simply rush into the castle and intentionally get detected, then engage enemies in open combat. If an enemy NPC rings the castle’s alarm bell, most of the area’s foes will converge on your location.

A skilled player using these tactics can earn massive amounts of XP rapidly. When executed efficiently, castles can reward up to 4,000 XP or more in just a few minutes.

Assassinating Targets Yields Major XP Rewards in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

In addition to required assassination targets tied to the main story, Assassin’s Creed Shadows includes many groups of optional assassination targets. You can uncover these quest chains by speaking with specific NPCs in the world and using scouts to pinpoint a target’s location. Placing fast travel points like Kakurega around the map allows you to often teleport close to a target. Then, take your mount for a short ride and eliminate the target as swiftly as possible.

Each time you assassinate a target, you receive an XP bonus for completing a quest—typically between 2,000 and 3,000 XP. The act of eliminating the target itself also provides additional XP, similar to the rewards for defeating elite enemies. Killing every target in a group and returning to the corresponding quest giver unlocks a substantial XP bonus, often around 5,000 XP.