Umair
What are the best Assassin’s Creed Shadows builds for the early game? Your journey across feudal Japan will be fraught with dangers, from roaming ronin to the powerful bosses looking to give you a run for your Mon. Suffice it to say, you’re going to have to get creative to survive, which is where character-building comes in.
Thanks to the interplay between the AC Shadows skill trees and your equipment (especially the best AC Shadows weapons and best AC Shadows armor), you can turn Naoe and Yasuke into roving death machines in the open-world RPG. Before we dive into the AC Shadows builds we found most effective during the early game, make sure you have our skills guide, alongside our Assassin’s Creed Shadows Legendary gear location guide open for quick reference.
Best Naoe build for the early game
- Key gear: Steel Blossom (Legendary Katana), Peasant Hat (Legendary Headgear), Peasant Clothes (Legendary Light Armor), Amaterasu’s Blessing (Legendary Trinket)
- Key skills: Melee Expert (Katana), Gap Seeker, Backstabber (Tanto), Vault (Shinobi), Executioner (Assassin)
Naoe’s best early game build makes liberal use of the Vault ability, which when combined with Steel Blossom ensures a consistent supply of ready-charged posture attacks. Factor in the small chance to remove entire health segments in a single strike thanks to the buff from Peasant Clothes, and you’ll make light work of the toughest opponents.
The Peasant Hat and Amaterasu’s Blessing may initially appear to be at odds with each other. The former provides adrenaline for abilities, while the latter offers bonus damage if you forego them altogether – there’s still plenty of value to be had here. The Tidal Wave katana ability is a strong opener that instantly makes enemies vulnerable, so it’s well worth foregoing a 10% damage boost for. You’ll still get a bump from the trinket, so it evens out and then some.
As noted, this build relies on investing in Vault as soon as you get your hands on Steel Blossom. Until that point, simply use the best gear available to you and use your skill points on whatever you see fit. There’s no penalty for respeccing, so go wild. During the early game where mastery points are at a premium, you’ll want to balance investing in the key passive skills listed above with utility skills like Igan Roll and Ascension Boost.
Best Yasuke build for the early game
- Key gear: Turquoise Zephyr (Legendary Long Katana), Protector’s Helmet (Legendary Helmet), Protector’s Armor (Legendary Armor), Kitsune’s Trickery (Legendary Amulet)
- Key skills: Riposte, Energizing Defense, Combat Expert, Power Dash (Long Katana), Regeneration, Vigor I, War Kick, Heavy Impact (Samurai)
They say the best defense is a great offense, but this early game Yasuke build espouses the opposite. Built around the block and parry mechanics, this setup is perfect for turning your opponents’ strength against them, reacting to their aggression before carving them up good and proper. It’s not the most exciting build, but it’s the most pragmatic way to navigate higher difficulties.
For weaponry, we’re running the Turquoise Zephyr, which pushes back parried enemies. Don’t be afraid to slap on a teppo or bow to engage from afar, thinning the crowd before they get to you. The two-piece Protector’s combo is what really makes this build tick, as Protector’s Armor lets you parry unparryable attacks, and the Protector’s Helmet deals 50% of the damage you would’ve taken back to the enemy on a successful parry.
Calling on pretty much the entire Long Katana tree, an enticing passive from the Teppo tree, and a chunk of investment into Samurai skills, Yasuke effectively becomes a walking fortress. The Kitsune’s Trinket amulet is a solid option as it provides bonus health per Mastery Point in the Samurai tree, so you have a constitution cushion if you mistime your defensive actions. The Protector’s set is on the garish side for our liking, so be sure to make use of AC Shadows’ transmog system if it’s a tad too ostentatious.
And those are the best Assassin’s Creed Shadows builds for the early game. Both builds provide a solid basis for further investment and tweaking down the line, so know your initial stake in them will continue to bear fruit. Or, y’know, get experimental – we’re not your boss. For more handy Shadows content, check out our comprehensive AC Shadows guide hub.
