Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Tools Upgrade Guide

In *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, players have the exciting choice between playing as Yasuke or Naoe, each offering unique ways to tackle challenges. To help you master the game, here's a detailed look at all the tools at your disposal and how to upgrade them.

All Tools in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you'll have access to five essential tools, with two becoming available as you progress through the story. Here’s what they are and how they can enhance your gameplay:

Grappling Hook

Naoe's Grappling Hook is a game-changer for exploration. It lets you latch onto structures and ascend without handholds, perfect for scouting enemy positions or swiftly reaching high vantage points. Additionally, you can use it to swing across wide gaps, making navigation a breeze.

Kunai

The Kunai is a lethal throwing knife that’s crucial for stealthy eliminations. A single hit can take down regular foes instantly, but upgrades are necessary to penetrate the armor of stronger enemies, ensuring you can silently dispatch any threat.

Smoke Bomb

The Smoke Bomb is a versatile tool, useful both defensively and offensively. It creates a smoke cloud that breaks enemy lines of sight, allowing you to escape or confuse adversaries during combat. This can set up perfect opportunities for surprise attacks and quick kills.

Shuriken

A must-have for any shinobi, the Shuriken is great for navigating guarded areas. While it doesn’t deal as much damage as the Kunai, it can stagger enemies and trigger environmental interactions like sabotaging alarms or blowing up barrels. With upgrades, Shurikens can ricochet, increasing their effectiveness.

Shinobi Bell

For those who prefer subtlety, the Shinobi Bell distracts enemies with its sound. Upgrades can enhance its range and add a golden shimmer, making it even more effective at drawing enemy attention away from your position, facilitating better crowd control and stealth maneuvers.

How To Upgrade Tools in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

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

Grappling Hook

The Grappling Hook's only upgrade is the Ascension Boost under the Shinobi Tree. For 2 Mastery Points at Knowledge Rank 2, this passive skill significantly speeds up Naoe’s climbing, making it easier to ascend without detection.

Kunai

To boost the Kunai's lethality, focus on Kunai Assassination Damage upgrades to remove more health segments per throw. The Armor Piercing passive skill enhances damage and armor penetration, while Everlast ensures you can retrieve thrown Kunai without them breaking.

Smoke Bomb

Once unlocked, extend the Smoke Bomb's duration with the Enduring Haze upgrade, giving you an extra 10 seconds to capitalize on the smoke. Widespread further increases the area of effect, allowing you to obscure more enemies at once.

Shuriken

Upgrade Shuriken with Bank Shot to make them bounce between targets, dealing increasing damage. Triple Threat lets you throw three Shurikens for the cost of one, offering versatile options in stealth and combat scenarios.

Shinobi Bell

Enhance the Shinobi Bell's distraction capability with the Golden Bell upgrade, making it more noticeable to enemies. Louder Chimes further increases its effective radius by five meters, drawing more enemies away with a single throw.

Understanding and upgrading these tools will greatly enhance your gameplay experience in *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*. For more tips and tricks, be sure to check out The Escapist.

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