Assassin’s Creed Shadows Collectibles Guide (100% Completion)

Assassin’s Creed Shadows contains 21 types of collectibles scattered across 9 regions. They can be divided into side activities indicated by orange map icons, points of interest such as castles, quest items, and other collectibles.

Nothing is missable, everything can still be collected after the story in free-roam. Kuji-kiri & Hidden Trails are exclusive to Naoe (female character). Katas & Horse Archery are exclusive to Yasuke (male character). Some of the Kofuns are only doable as one character as they require their unique abilities, such as Naoe being able to use grappling hooks. You unlock the ability to switch characters after finishing Act 1 in the story. After the prologue you can go to all regions immediately but the Yasuke-exclusive items can’t be collected until after Act 1.

For trophies & achievements you don’t need 100% completion. The only collectibles needed are 5 Legendary Sumi-e + 22 Kuji-kiri, and only 1 Kata and 1 Kofun. Everything else is optional. You will however need to complete many of the orange side activities as they give “knowledge points” to reach knowledge rank 6. This is required to buy mastery skills for various trophies, mainly for fully upgrading the Shinobi/Samurai skill trees and the Tools/Ammo.

Collectibles are also the main source of XP in the game. You should do them along the way to level up for main quests. Especially the castles give a lot of XP, materials and legendary equipment.

4 of the Legendary Sumi-e are exclusive to one season each. To save time, you should pay attention to them from the start and look for them whenever the season changes. Then you don’t have to wait around for seasons to change.

By Region

If you’re going for 100% completion, the most efficient way is to collect everything by region. This will let you level up fast before going to the next region.