As RPGs are known to do, Assassin’s Creed Shadows also follows the common practice of having you play as a skilled and powerful warrior, only to have you suffer a debilitating injury, lose all your skills, and need to start from scratch.
10 Best Games Where You’re An Assassin
From Hitman to Sniper Elite, these games specialize in the subtle art of murder.
After a Rocky-style montage on the road to recovery, you’ll be let off the leash, and you’ll need to earn Mastery Points to spend on fancy new skills. These are all helpful in their own way, but there are definitely some skills that are more useful than others.
So, in a bid to make sure you don’t waste your Mastery Points on something lackluster, we have listed some of the best early game picks. Allowing you to fast-track your wayto master Shinobi status.
For clarity, we are considering any skill within the first three tiers as ‘early-game.’ As it takes quite some time to gather the necessary Knowledge Points. We will also not be considering skills that come unlocked as standard, and will only be considering Naoe’s skill tree.
10Ascension Boost
Description
Allows you to climb with your Grappling Hook faster
1 Mastery Point
We’ll start off with one that seems rather plain and boring but will make your life a lot easier when you’re on the hunt for new viewpoints. Ascension boost is a skill that gives you the ability to clamber up your grappling hook to higher ground much faster than you could before.
It will initially feel quite cumbersome to climb up the rope, like it was in Gym class for just about everybody, but with this boost, you’ll be able to climb with ease.
It can help you cut down on climbing time to vantage points and potentially get you out of an enemy’s line of sight in a sticky situation. It’s not a game-changer, but it’s a nice one to have, for sure.
9Shallow Water Breathing
Is That The Jaws Theme Playing?
Allows you to breathe while hiding underwater
Assassin’s Creed is synonymous with parkour mechanics that see you leaping from rooftop to rooftop. However, in AC Shadows, there is a little more nuance to your assassination technique than just walking up and stabbing someone. you’re able to use the environment to your advantage, and one fine example is using bodies of water.
If you have the Shallow Water Breathing skill, you can breathe with a reed straw to stay just below the water line. Which allows you to swim up to enemies on the surface, burst from the water and take them down in dramatic fashion.
This gives you another angle of attack, not to mention that it allows you to get rid of the body in the water to avoid passersby noticing a fallen comrade. It’s a little situational, hence the low ranking, but it’s a luxury skill that’s nice to have.
8Quick Throw
Deadly From Distance
Automatically throws your equipped tool at the nearest enemy
Tools in AC Shadows can be very helpful, but the problem is that most of them require thinking time to aim with precision and execute the kill.
If you’re behind cover, it’s easy to aim a headshot, but when you’re being chased by multiple enemies, it’s a little tougher to be quite as accurate.
This is where quick throw comes into play, as this skill allows you to roughly aim and fire at the closest enemy, and if you have this skill, it effectively acts like an aimbot honing in on the closest enemy to where you’re aiming.
You still need to be somewhat accurate for this to register, but the margin for error increases significantly. It just gives players another option to avoid getting killed when a stealth attempt goes awry, and it’s a very welcome option to have.
7Shoji Door Assassination
A Real Sliding Doors Moment
Allows players to assassinate enemies through shoji doors.
2 Mastery Points
When you’re moving around as quietly as a mouse through temples and castles bursting at the seams with enemies, heading indoors can be a good move.
After all, enemies can’t see through walls, but thanks to your Eagle Vision, you can. However, the problem is that while you can see them on one side of the wall, you can’t just stab them through concrete.
But, Shoji panel doors are pretty flimsy by contrast, and if you unlock this assassination technique, you’ll be able to stick your hidden blade right through, kill the enemy in cold blood, and you won’t even have to leave the confines of the building you are in.
It’s just another great way to thin enemy numbers with next to no risk of being caught. So, if you’re a sick of opening doors to kill people, this one makes it a one-button process.
6Igan Roll
Knees of Steel
Players can fall from great heights and roll to negate some fall damage
While you wander the vast open world with rolling hills, and parkour from rooftop to rooftop, there will be moments where you need to commit to a perilous drop, and sadly, even the most skilled shinobi warriors are still vulnerable to fall damage. We would love to say that there is a cushy pile of hay around every corner, but this isn’t the original Assassin’s Creed.
So, you should unlock the Igan Roll skill, an ability that allows you to press roll as you land after jumping from a great height, and you’ll gracefully roll to break your fall and avoid taking fall damage.
You still can’t drop from massive cliffs or buildings and expect not to shatter into one million pieces, but this skill will cut down on silly mistakes that cause fall damage, and it will allow you to take more risks when plotting your routes to take down targets.
5Heighten Senses
Time is just a Construct
Slows time for eight seconds after you go undetected, ends when contact is made with an enemy.
3 Mastery Points
No matter how careful you are, there will come a time where you miss a jump, or commit to a risky kill, and you end up getting spotted. It can be a fatal mistake, but if you’re clever, you can find a means of hiding, and usually, the enemy will lose track of your whereabouts.
After this, it can be tricky to turn defense into attack, but with the Heighten Senses skill, when the enemy loses track of you, time will slow down significantly, allowing you to perhaps sneak away to safety, or launch a devastating counter offensive that can turn the tide in your favor.
It’s a little situational, as the best option is not to get caught in the first place. But, it is a pretty handy safety net to have just in case things don’t go to plan.
4Kunai Assassination Damage I
Sharper Knives, Cleaner Kills
Kunai tools deal more damage
While all the tools at your disposal in the game have their uses, the Kunai is by far the best tool in your tool belt. It’s something that can kill most enemies in one hit if aimed correctly, and it allows you to pick off enemies from range.
It does everything that a hidden blade and katana can’t and ensures you remain undetected. However, you will run into elite enemies that can take multiple Kunai without being killed.
This can be a huge issue as wounding them only makes them mad, will have them alert the crowd of goons, and suddenly you’ve gone from being a silent killer to a sitting duck. But, if you unlock the Kunai Assassination boost, you’ll be able to kill stronger enemies with just one Kunai, meaning you want get caught with your pants down.
You still won’t be able to take down the biggest and burliest of foes, but you’ll be able to take down the more stocky, mid-tier enemies with no hassle at all. Unless you miss the mark, in which case, that’s your bad.
3Assassination Damage I
The Bigger They Are…
Hidden Blade standard assassinations deal more damage.
Kunai Assassinations are great, but let’s be real: you’ll be doing most of your stealth killing with your trusty hidden blade. It’s a much more versatile weapon that allows you to kill from above, while sprinting past foes, and much more.
But, again, if you run into an enemy that is a bit more beefy than the others, you may find that they shrug you off and throw a snide ‘nice try’ your way.
If you want to avoid them delivering that smug bit of dialogue, then you need the Assassination Damage boost which means you’ll be able to kill bigger and stronger enemies with your blade, meaning they go down immediately.
It’s a little pricey as it costs three mastery points, but it’s a very worthwhile investment, as it will save you from engaging in fair and honest fights where you could be killed.
2Larger Tool Bag I
More Tools, More Kills
Adds one extra tool of each type to your tool belt
While a katana and that classic assassin’s blade will get the job done most of the time, there are some things that only tools will accomplish.
Whether it’s causing chaos and confusion with a smoke bomb, or getting a bandit right between the eyes with a Kunai, you always want to have enough tools to get the job done.
That’s where this skill comes into play, as this allows you to carry one extra of each tool in your arsenal, meaning you have a wealth of options to infiltrate strongholds and make short work of the enemies inside.
This one will mean you aren’t scurrying around looking for a refill box quite as often, and that alone sees this one rank highly on this list.
1Double Assassinate
Double Bubble
Allows players to assassinate two enemies in close proximity at once.
There are few things better than getting the drop on an enemy and plunging down from the heavens to deliver that final death blow. However, if that enemy is standing around talking with another guy, then you run the risk of alerting them and needing to engage in a fair fight, and any good assassin knows how to avoid a fair fight.
This is why Double Assassinate is a must-have skill, as this allows the player to kill two enemies in close proximity in one fell swoop, meaning you won’t have to bloody your katana at all, as your hidden blade will suffice.
This is an amazing skill for clearing out bases in the early game and onwards, for that matter. So, be sure to pick this one up as soon as you can afford it.
