Both Yasuke and Naoe have six skill trees to follow in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. For Yasuke, five of his skill trees follow his five weapons while one is dedicated to Yasuke’s overall nature. This singular skill tree is called Samurai and most of the unlockable abilities are passive.
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While Naoe is a true, blue Assassin, how does Yasuke, the outsider become a samurai worth playing as in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
To make Yasuke the best samurai he can be in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, unlocking many nodes in this skill tree will be beneficial. It’s all about balance though and players should select abilities from the other five skill trees too: Bow, Kanabo, Long Katana, Naginata, and Teppo. For now, though, let’s focus on Samurai.
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Battle Cry
Stagger Enemies Around You
Battle Cry is an active skill that creates a sound wave to intimidate enemies. It’s kind of like giving Yasuke a Dragon Shout ability like from The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Enemies affected within Yasuke’s radius will be vulnerable to attacks until the spell dissipates, unable to retaliate back.
Upgrades can increase the damage and even heal Yasuke after he attacks. It’s a good move to use when surrounded by enemies like when storming a castle in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
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Brutal Assassination
Yasuke Can Assassinate Enemies
Yasuke is a giant samurai so unlike Naoe, he cannot stealthily go through and kill enemies from the shadows in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. That is unless players unlock the Brutal Assassination skill which can kill enemies. This still won’t make Yasuke stealthy but at least players can perform takedowns.
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If players have Guaranteed Assassination turned on in the options, Brutal Assassination will always kill Yasuke’s opponents in one strike if left undetected. It may make the game too easy for some, so that’s a dilemma every player has to wrestle with.
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Bull Rush
Sprint Through Doors And Enemies
Bull Rush is an automatic skill Yasuke will get in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, allowing him to break through doors like he is The Hulk. By simply running, Yasuke will build momentum which can tackle human opponents as well as doors. Knocked-down enemies can be assisted with the right skills and weapons equipped.
Upgraded for this specific path will increase the power and allow Yasuke to even collide larger enemies into smaller ones. Yasuke is like a one-man army with this ability and it doesn’t even require weapons. That’s one thing missing in Assassin’s Creed Shadows for Yasuke: fist-based melee combat. Other big enemies can brawl after dropping weapons, so why can’t he?
4
Link Attack
Switch Weapons To Get A Bonus Combo
Link Attack allows players to build a combo if they switch Yasuke’s weapons but only with melee weapons in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Of his five weapons, two are ranged while three are melee based. Players can swap between the Long Katana, Naginata, or Kanabo to create a special attack upon doing so.
It’s not the coolest skill to unlock but it does speed things up as the animation can be slow sometimes, especially for Yasuke. It’s even slow if players are switching weapons with Naoe.
3
Regeneration
Heal HP Upon Killing Enemies
Of the two characters, Yasuke will naturally have more health than Naoe. Health is dictated by leveling up and what armor is equipped and Yasuke’s armor class is just more naturally powerful in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
It’s why it’s hard to take Yasuke down, making him the ideal character to play with in heavily guarded areas. Even with good armor, a skill like Regeneration is not bad to have as a backup. With it, players can restore some health after killing an enemy. It’s not much at first but more points dumped into this skill can help the HP return grow.
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Vigor 1
Increase Adrenaline Reserves
To use an active ability in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players need Adrenaline. The Adrenaline meter is located by the character’s health bar and resembles a diamond shape. Attacking enemies can restore Adrenaline and the more natural chunks they have, the more abilities can be used before having to wait for cooldown periods.
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Vigor 1 is a skill that will give Yasuke more diamond chunks of Adrenaline and there are three tiers to this. It’s a basic upgrade for an RPG but one necessary to succeed in combat.
1
War Kick
Kick Enemies Across The Map
War Kick is a simple active skill that won’t do a lot of damage but it is fun to use. It will kick an enemy pretty far away from Yasuke and Naoe has a kick ability too. Naturally, her kicks in Assassin’s Creed Shadows pale in comparison to Yasuke’s as his size is beefier.
Upgrades along this path can increase the impact capacity and even target larger enemies. If players are strategic, they may be able to yeet an enemy off a cliff but this opportunity can be rare.
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong