It’s been a long road to get to this point, but we’re finally at the finish line for Assassin’s Creed Shadows and ready to dismantle the Shinbakfu once and for all, something that’s taken hours and plenty of assassinations to get to.
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By this point in the game, only two members remain in the Shinbakfu but don’t worry, as they can both be taken out in a few short quests that aren’t far from one another at all. Read on to find out how to beat Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Wolves And Foxes
How To Complete Naoe’s Personal Journey
Once you’ve defeated The Fox, the last target you’ll probably have taken down, you’ll see that Akechi Mitsuhide’s quest line will update and say that you need to complete Naoe’s personal journey. If you, like me, let out a groan at the main quest being lengthened even more, don’t worry too much as the requirements are quite simple.
The first thing you’re going to need to do is complete four Kuji-Kiri missions, which are flashbacks that show Naoe’s past. These are all pretty simple and linear, and once you’ve done four you’ll get a quest called Wolves and Foxes. You’ll have to go and meet Tokugawa who is marked on the map and will be under attack from some enemies when you get there. Clear them out and then talk with Hanzo to finish up this mission and unlock one called Secrets of the Blade.
While you can go and pursue this part of Naoe’s personal quest (and should since it unlocks the Apprentice Assassin outfit), this is the point where Mitsuhide’s quest opens up once more, and technically means you’ve “completed” Naoe’s personal journey. You haven’t, but it’s enough to keep the main mission going, and you won’t have to worry about doing more until you beat the game.
The Peasant Who Would Be King
Where To Meet Lady Nene
Once you’ve got that far in Naoe’s quest, you can go and meet Lady Nene north of the Hills of Meeting, at the point we’ve marked on the map above. Finding and talking to her will give you more detail on the mission ahead and basically sets the whole thing up. It’s just a chat, though, so get through it and then be ready to finally take on Mitsuhide.
If you haven’t been already, I’d recommend doing more of Naoe and Yasuke’s personal stories as they’ll make sure you’re nice and levelled-up.
Topple The Traitor
Where To Meet Hideyoshi
You’re at the final stretch now, but you’ll need to meet Hideyoshi first to start the mission. He’s located in Yamazaki, and talking to him will kick things off and let you choose to play as Naoe or Yasuke for the first leg of the mission, which involves securing a castle from some basic enemies. To speed things up, I’d recommend going with Yasuke.
Once you start the mission, you’ll basically just need to kill everyone in sight on your way to assassinate Mitsuhide, who is in the big tower. Make your way over there and take anyone out who gets in your way, until you come to a locked door. If you’re Naoe, you can just climb above, but Yasuke will need to sprint into it to break through.
After doing this, a short cutscene will play where Mitsuhide tries to escape by horse, which jumps things over to Naoe’s perspective as she takes chase. You just need to keep up with Mitsuhide here, which should be easy after all the experience you’ve had riding a horse in Shadows so far.
I assume that you’d play as Yasuke at this point if you started at Naoe instead, but it doesn’t really matter since you’ll swap again shortly.
Catch up to Mitsuhide and he’ll decide to finally stop running away, which is when the real battle against him begins.
Assassinating Akechi Mitsuhide
Once Mitsuhide has finally stopped talking, you’ll take control of Yasuke to start the fight off, before eventually switching over to Naoe. Mitsuhide is a fairly powerful foe at Level 35 and he’ll attack with pretty much every tool in the game’s arsenal, from heavy strikes that need to be dodged to quick slashes that you’ll have to parry in a row.
Mitsuhide is actually pretty tricky though, as his moves aren’t so telegraphed. For example, when he raises his sword above his head for a strong strike, he’ll sometimes kick dirt at you to disorientate you before attacking. His quick parryable strikes are also usually done from behind his back, so he’s one to keep an eye out for at all times.
Once you’ve broken his armour and taken away half of his health, Naoe will tag in and it’ll be up to her to do the rest of the job. His moves actually get a bit faster here too, and he introduces a running strike as part of a chain of parryable attacks. Mitsuhide basically gets a whole lot trickier when fighting Naoe, so you’ll want to watch him even closer for this round.
When fighting as Naoe, I’d recommend using the kusarigama since it has some distance with its heavy Posture attack. Yasuke’s naginata is, as always, his best bet too.
Once you’ve defeated Mitsuhide he’ll reveal what the box contains and who has it. You are then presented with a choice of who you want to let kill Mitsuhide, which is entirely up to you. I ended up going with Yasuke since I played as him much more, but I’d argue that Naoe is probably more deserving of that final blow.
The Man Behind The Mask
Assassinating Ashikaga Yoshiaki
With that all said and done, it’s time for the admittedly anticlimactic ending to Assassin’s Creed Shadows and the Shinbakfu. Head over to the North of Genbu Highlands as shown on the map, and you’ll find Ashikaga Yoshiaki sitting there and waiting for his fate. You get a few dialogue options here, but generally, you can’t do much at all to sway the story.
A cutscene is all there is to this mission and it’ll end with you sparing Yoshiaki whether you want to or not. This is technically the ending to Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a whole, but you’ve still got the epilogue to go if you want to see the real credits, which we’ll have a separate guide for.
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