How to Get & Upgrade All Weapons in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Both Naoe and Yasuke have their own unique set of weapons in Assassins Creed Shadows. Not only does each weapon have a unique playstyle, but its own Mastery Tree. Keeping your weapons upgraded (and unlocking new ones) is important if you want to keep up with the increasingly difficult enemies.

How to Find and Unlock New Weapons

Initially, you’ll only have access to Naoe’s Katana, and finding weapons from other classes is difficult. However, once you reach Level 10, Gear Vendors around the map will be unlocked and their wares will be stocked with two more types of weapons for Naoe. Naoe can purchase the Kusarigama and Tanto. Once you finally unlock Yasuke, he will start with just one weapon. However, you can head to the same Gear Vendors and purchase three more weapons for him. Afterward, you can get higher-tier weapons by looting castles and completing other missions that reward you with gear.

How to Upgrade Weapons and Armor

Assassin’s Creed Shadows uses a level system to determine how effective your weapon’s stats and damage are. Even if you have a Legendary weapon it will eventually fall behind in level. You can upgrade your weapons and gear at the Forge at your Hideout after you unlock the Blacksmith.

As such, it’s better to prioritize high-tier (Epic and Legendary) armor and weapons and then take them to the Blacksmith for further upgrades as their stats scale much higher than common weapons at the same level.

Each weapon and piece of gear requires a different resource alongside some Mon to upgrade. Here’s a complete list of all pieces of gear and their corresponding upgrade resource:

• Naoe’s Armor: Requires Hemp Cloth.
• Naoe’s Weapons: Requires Ironsand.
• Yasuke’s Armor: Requires Leather.
• Yasuke’s Long Katana, Kanabo, and Naginata: Require Tamahagane.
• Yasuke’s Bow and Teppo: Require Oakwood.
• Trinkets: Require Silk.
• Legendary Armor/Weapons: 1 Piece of Gold.

All the resources mentioned above can be found via quests, through scouts, dismantling gear, and by looting chests in the overworld. You can dismantle gear at the Forge to receive its corresponding materials. Lastly, Gold upgrades Legendary equipment to your current level in one go.

Upgrading the Forge for More Weapon Upgrades

The standard level 1 Forge that you build as part of the story lets you upgrade your weapons and armor up to level 20. Afterwards, you’ll have to upgrade the Forge to Level 2 for further upgrades.

Level 2 Forge

• Materials: 350 Crops, 260 Wood, and 90 Minerals.
• Effect: Increases upgrade cap for gear to Level 40 and unlocks standard Engravings.

Level 3 Forge

• Materials: 700 Crops, 520 Wood, and 170 Minerals.
• Effect: Increases upgrade cap for gear to Level 60 and unlocks Legendary Engravings.

All Naoe Weapons in Assassins Creed Shadows

Katana

The Katana is Naoe’s primary weapon and one of the most balanced weapons in the game. It doesn’t excel at anything in particular but it’s a jack of all trades. It’s fast, deals decent damage, and can be used defensively as long as you know how to block. It’s a standard weapon with some cool dashing and quick multi-slash abilities that you can unlock.

Kusarigama

The Kusarigama is a more unique weapon. It’s a combination of a heavy steel ball and a sickle connected by a chain. Naoe can use it to entangle enemies, dash towards them to unleash multiple sickle strikes, perform large swinging AoE attacks, and apply Daze. However, to get the most value out of it, you need to learn how to time your button inputs for extra attacks.

Tanto

The Tanto is just a short sword, but paired with Naoe’s hidden blade it essentially lets her dual wield two small daggers. The playstyle revolves around making numerous light-slashing attacks to whittle down foes rather than overpowering them. You’ll need to rely more on dodges and reflexes than parries or knocking foes over. It also has a unique auto-dodge mode, an in-combat assassination, and can trigger weak-point attacks. It’s the closest thing to dual hidden blades in Assasin’s Creed Shadows.

Tools

Naoe also has access to four unique Shinobi tools.

• Kunai: The Kunai is your best friend while sneaking around as it lets you stealthily take out targets from afar.
• Shinobi Bell: The Shinobi Bell lets you lure enemies to break them up, isolate them, or distract patrollers.
• Smoke Bomb: The smoke bomb is great for getting easy stealth kills when engaging in a fight or when you’re caught and want to disengage.
• Shuriken: The Shuriken is a high-damage projectile option for combat if you run out of Kunais.

Be sure to get Tool Masteries first as they’re incredibly powerful for stealth quests.

All Yasuke Weapons in Assassins Creed Shadows

Long Katana

Yasuke’s Long Katana is very similar in gameplay and abilities to Naoe’s normal Katana. However, it deals more damage, has a larger range, and can more easily break enemy posture. It has a unique charged sheath attack, skills that target multiple enemies while restoring HP, a deadly riposte, and a powerful dash attack.

Naginata

The Naginata is a polearm with a long blade at its edge and is perfect for keeping large numbers of enemies at bay. Its abilities include a powerful charge attack, a series of wide crescent slashes, a single target onslaught of strikes, and a whirlwind combo that can decimate groups of enemies. It’s a fantastic all-rounder weapon for any combat encounter.

Teppo

The Teppo is an old-school rifle that needs to be reloaded after every shot. It also comes with special ammunition that has explosive effects. It’s a mid to long-range control weapon with a few close combat skills for dodges and executions that are incredibly satisfying to use.

Bow

Last but not least, the bow is a silent and deadly companion that can pick apart enemy groups from a distance. You get the full value out of this weapon by timing shots with the Posture animation. You can unlock multi-strikes, poison arrows, a powerful arrow strike, and a time-slowing ability for the Bow as Yasuke.

Those are all the weapons for Naoe and Yasuke and how to unlock and upgrade them in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. For more guides, check out all Kuji Kiri locations and whether to confront Wakasa or Otama.

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