Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out, and it is a big game. There’s a lot going on, and thanks to the new dual protagonist system, players will have even more to keep track of depending on who they are controlling.
But Assassin’s Creed Shadows brings a lot more to the table this time around compared to previous games, some stuff I wish I had known before I started the game. So I want to share things I discovered while playing Shadows that I wish I had known before I played.
The Map Doesn’t Reveal Itself
Unlike previous games, Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ map doesn’t automatically reveal itself when you find a vantage point and trigger the cool rotating camera thing. The map stays completely fogged until the player physically goes to the region and walks through it.
This means there’s no way to know what is on the map unless you explore it. Even dropping down a Scout (more on those later) will show you possible “objectives” in the area but only objectives. Scouting a part of the map won’t reveal what locations and points of interest there are nearby.
The best way to discover the map is to find a vantage point, scan the area, and make your way to all the “?” icons that appear around the map after you trigger the camera rotating thing. This leads to my next tip:
You Don’t Have to Scan The “?s” When You Do The Rotating Camera Thing
One thing I wasted way too much time on in my playthrough was moving the camera over all the “?” signs that appear when you find a vantage point. You don’t have to do this. Sure, you can sit there and look at all the cool things in the distance, but you don’t have to hover your zoom over the icon for it to register on the map.
The vantage point scan automatically adds all surrounding icons to the map instantly. I know this sounds like a dumb tip, but I want to save you time, and sitting on the top of a temple looking into the distance at “?” is a waste of time.
Seasons Have Two Phases Each – 8 Changes in Total
If you have played the game already and you’re wondering why the cool seasonal change cinematic comes up so often but you don’t see major changes in the world, it is because they actually trigger twice per new season. If you look at the map where the seasonal timer fills up, it is a circle (it is around the compass). When that circle fills up halfway, it triggers the first change. When it completes the circle, it triggers the second change. This means the game features 8 seasonal changes in total that happen gradually over time.
Seasons only change when the bar is either halfway or full AND you fast travel, complete a major story mission, or change characters. They won’t kick in automatically, and there’s a major advantage to this (the next tip).
The season changes bring new things to the game. I won’t say they are drastic, and in my opinion, I didn’t find any of the changes beneficial to the gameplay, but they do change the visual style quite a lot. The only two changes I felt while playing the game were the autumn/winter seasons have longer nights, which is great for stealth gameplay. The second phase winter season then froze the lakes around castles, which meant I could run up to the walls and use the grapple hook to infiltrate them. Winter also means the long grass dies, so you can’t prone as often to hide away in it.
Deplete Your Scouts Before A New Seasonal Change
The most important part of a new seasonal change is that your Scouts get replenished. This means every time you trigger a new season, be it the half season or full season, you’ll get a fresh new group of Scouts. Be sure to always use your Scouts before this change happens.
I highly recommend that if you’re nudging near a new season, go into a castle/or whatever rich location, and tag resources for your scouts to collect before the season ticks over. You can see what areas have the best wealth by hovering over icons you have discovered.
Areas with “rich” wealth are obviously the best for this farming method. Go in, steal the key or find it somewhere in the area by scanning the gold circles, open up the storage room, and tag those resources.
When the season ticks over, all those resources will then be added to your Hideout. I sometimes even went back to my nearby safe house to refill my Scouts by paying Mo. It costs 140 at first but can be reduced by upgrading the HQ building in your Hideout. I then went and tagged even more resources.
I say this because resources are a real pain to find in the game and are best farmed through your Scouts. You’ll need these resources for building new important structures in your Hideout and even upgrading gear.
If you feel like you don’t need any resources and still have Scouts available before the end of a season, just drop them on the map to discover nearby objectives. Keep in mind that you need to have an objective active to do this.
Don’t Sleep on Knowledge Points
If you want to unlock all the available skills in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll need Knowledge Points to do so. These live outside of Mastery Points, which are used to unlock your skills. You’ll need a certain number of Knowledge Points to unlock a certain tier of skills and even more points to unlock later skills.
There are five tiers in total, and unlocking the last tier requires a lot of points. So right from the start, be sure to rack up those Knowledge Points ASAP. These are obtained by completing temples, archery challenges, and other activities. Whenever you discover an orange icon on the map (although I swear it looks red), complete it. This will give you one point.
The Animus Hub is Actually Useful (Sort of)
I know in my review of Assassin’s Creed Shadows I kind of slammed the Animus Hub for being underwhelming, and it is, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. The hub acts as a place to pick up weekly challenges, called Anomalies, which you can complete in order to work towards unlocking items in the available “Projects”.
Whatever you do, strive to complete all four weekly Anomalies. Some will be tough because they will require you to take down an enemy in likely a much higher-levelled region than you at first. But as soon as you can take on that area, do it.
I say this because if you want the cool gear and want to complete those Project tracks fast, all the XP you earn from these Anomalies will be important. The Projects include gear and Keys which can be used to purchase gear which usually costs real money.
Given that you only have four opportunities (Anomalies) a week to progress these Projects, it is important you do them. Anomalies reset once a week on a Thursday at 15:00 SAST.
