Assassin's Creed Shadows Walkthrough

Here you can find a full Assassin’s Creed Shadows Walkthrough of all Main Quests.

Below are links to all of the Main Story Quests in AC Shadows. The story is divided into 5 Chapters: Prologue, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Epilogue.

To finish the story you must defeat all 12 Onryo/Shinbakufu members, and complete all quests from Naoe, Yasuke, Junjiro. Everything else is optional and not needed to advance the story. Optional and Side Quests are listed at the bottom here and can be done in any order after unlocking them. Most of the main quests can also be done in varying order. Feel free to do as much side content as you like along the way to level up and recruit allies. Also grab Collectibles for XP and Skill Points (called “Knowledge Points”).

The Prologue is a linear section. In Act 1 you reach the open world, it goes on until you defeat 3 of 12 Onryo members. Act 2 lasts until you defeat all 12 Onryu/Shinbakufu members, but the trophy for Act 2 may unlock before then. Act 3 is for finishing the stories of Naoe, Yasuke, and Junjiro. Then the Epilogue unlocks to finish the story. All optional/side quests can still be done after the story, nothing is missable.

For trophies/achievements it’s recommended to start the game with Guided Exploration Mode turned OFF (removes certain waypoints). When you turn this on, the game gives a warning that it will void some trophies, but this is a bit misleading. It only voids a single trophy Scouting Mission for using a Scout, because the scouting feature isn’t available in Guided Mode. All other trophies are still doable with Guided Mode turned on. After getting the trophy you can still turn on Guided Mode from the gameplay options for the rest of the game. Whether you play in Canon Mode doesn’t matter, and all trophies are doable on the easiest difficulty.

PROLOGUE

The Lord’s Favor
Spirit of a Warrior
Flames of War
Fight of the Kabushiba Ikki
The Onryo Samurai
ACT 1 – DEFEAT THE FIRST 3 SHINBAKUFU
(Intermission – An Unpayable Debt – continues later)
Wake Up Call
An Unpayable Debt
From Spark to Flame
Way of the Blacksmith (The League > Tomiko)
Searching Sakai (The Onryo > The Golden Teppo)
The Perfect Gift (The Onryo > The Golden Teppo)
Dress for Success (The Onryo > The Golden Teppo)
The Tea Ceremony (The Onryo > The Golden Teppo)
Drive the Point Home / Defensive Position (The Onryo > The Golden Teppo) –> The Golden Teppo defeated
The Fatherless Monk (The Onryo > The Wounded) – The Warrior Monk
The Killing Field (The Onryo > The Wounded)
Stolen Faith (The Onryo > The Wounded)
Heads Will Roll (The Onryo > The Wounded) –> The Wounded defeated
Friend of My Enemy (The League > Tomiko)
Belly of the Beast (The Onryo > The Shinbakufu)
Temple of the Horseman (The Onryo > Oda Nabunaga)
Lightning and Thunder (The Onryo > Oda Nabunaga)
Mibuno Showdown (The Onryo > Oda Nabunaga) – Yasuke unlocked
ACT 2 – DEFEAT ALL 12 SHINBAKUFU
An Education (Yasuke)
Nobutsuna Sensei (Yasuke)
Lady of Whispers (Yasuke)
Lords of Azuchi (Yasuke)
An Evening in Otsu (The Shinbakufu -> The Naginata)
Against the Koga-ryu (The Shinbakufu -> The Naginata) – The Sharpshooter
Showdown in Sakamoto (The Shinbakufu -> The Naginata) –> The Naginata defeated
The Bad Brother (The Shinbakufu -> The Fool)
Missing Missive (The Shinbakufu -> The Fool) – The Thief
The Rising Tide (The Shinbakufu -> The Fool)
Inside Help (The Shinbakufu -> The Fool) – defeat all 7 Takahashi of The Twisted Tree to advance story
Lost Honor (The Shinbakufu -> The Fool) –> The Fool defeated
A Talk with a Lady (The Shinbakufu -> The Mourner)
Nagahama Black Powder (The Shinbakufu -> The Mourner)
A Prayer for Omi (The Shinbakufu -> The Mourner)
The Price of Rice (The Shinbakufu -> The Mourner)
The Wheel Unmasked (The Shinbakufu -> The Mourner) –> The Mourner is always spared regardless of whether you attack as Yasuke or Naoe
The Rengakai (The Shinbakufu -> The Noble)
Losing Hand (The Shinbakufu -> The Noble)
The Scent of War (The Shinbakufu -> The Noble)
A Peculiar Guest (The Shinbakufu -> The Noble)
Spring and Fall (The Shinbakufu -> The Noble) –> The Noble defeated – doesn’t matter if you choose to spare him or kill him. If you choose to spare he immediately bleeds out and dies anyway, so regardless of the choice he will die
A Voice in Anger (The Shinbakufu -> The Ox)
Astray (The Shinbakufu -> The Ox)
Brothers in Arms (The Shinbakufu -> The Ox)
Of My Enemy (The Shinbakufu -> The Ox)
Broken Horn (The Shinbakufu -> The Ox) –> The Ox defeated
A Chance Encounter (The Shinbakufu -> The Wise)
Temple Stories (The Shinbakufu -> The Wise)
Restless Spirits (The Shinbakufu -> The Wise)
The Lost Envoys (The Shinbakufu -> The Wise)
Darkness Falls (The Shinbakufu -> The Wise) –> The Wise defeated
Red Walls (The Shinbakufu -> The Fox)
Chef Hong (The Shinbakufu -> The Fox)
Smuggler’s Gambit (The Shinbakufu -> The Fox)
Revenge (The Shinbakufu -> The Fox)
The Music (The Shinbakufu -> The Fox)
The Performer (The Shinbakufu -> The Fox) –> The Fox defeated
(Intermission – Story of a Shinobi – continues later)
Before the Fall (Naoe)
Wolves and Foxes (Naoe)
(Intermission – Secrets of the Blade – continues later after all 12 shinbakufu defeated)
The Peasant Who Would Be King (The Shinbakufu -> The Two-Faced) – after doing Naoe’s quests and defeating other Shinbakufu –> The Two-Faced defeated
Topple the Traitor (The Shinbakufu -> The Two-Faced)
The Man Behind the Mask (The Shinbakufu -> The Horseman) – after defeating all other 11 Shinbakufu –> The Horseman defeated
ACT 3 – COMPLETE ALL QUESTS FROM JUNJIRO / YASUKE / NAOE
Raise a Cup (The League -> Junjiro) *could be done sooner, if already completed do Junjiro’s remaining quests, after each quest wait for season to change to get the next one
Dark Waves, Black Ships (Yasuke -> Yasuke’s Past)
My Name is Yasuke (Yasuke -> Yasuke’s Past)
The Path He Walks (Yasuke -> Yasuke’s Past)
Fighting for the Cause (Templar -> Kimura Kei)
The Silver Queen (Templar -> Silver Queen)
A Promise (Templar -> Silver Queen)
End of the Line (Templar -> Nuno Caro)
Worse Men (Yasuke -> Yasuke’s Past) – after killing all Templars
Eyes on the Future (The League -> Junjiro)
A Different Kind of Samurai (The League -> Junjiro)
Secrets of the Blade (Naoe -> The Assassins)
The Meaning of the Blade (Naoe -> The Assassins) –> Credits will roll after this if you followed the order here (if you did Naoe’s quests first then the credits come after Yasuke’s last quest). Act 3 continues until all Junjiro quests are done.
Soup for Sorin (The League -> Junjiro)
The Pilgrimage (The League -> Junjiro)
Leaving a Mark (The League -> Junjiro) – Fall of the Shinbakufu
EPILOGUE – COMPLETE FINAL QUEST
Out of the Shadows – after all 12 Shinbakufu defeated + all quests done for Naoe + Yasuke + Junjiro – Epilogue –> Story ends here