In *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, mastering your Samurai and Shinobi skills hinges on earning XP as efficiently as possible. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to maximize your XP gains to level up quickly.
What Awards XP in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Answered
In *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, XP can be earned through a diverse range of activities and actions. From eliminating enemies and assassinating targets to completing quests and engaging in side content, every action contributes to your XP pool. However, the XP rewards can differ significantly depending on the activity. To optimize your XP gains, it's crucial to focus on the most rewarding tasks.
You can preview the potential XP reward of a quest or activity by hovering over it in the map or objectives tab. The most lucrative sources of fast XP in *Assassin’s Creed Shadows* are castles and optional assassinations.
How to Get Fast XP from Castles in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Throughout Japan in *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, castles serve as prime XP farms. Each castle is fortified with basic and elite enemies, as well as Samurai Daisho, whose elimination is crucial for unlocking the castle's chest, which contains high-tier loot.
Completing a castle's objectives alone can net you a few thousand XP, but the potential for XP doesn't stop there. Each enemy defeated within the castle contributes to your XP, with elites and Samurai Daisho offering substantial bonuses, typically around 250 XP each. Additionally, synchronizing at high points within the castle not only grants XP (usually a few hundred) but also unlocks fast travel points, facilitating seamless character switching.
While castles are excellent XP sources, they can be challenging. Here are some strategies to streamline your XP farming:
- Choose your protagonist wisely. Naoe's Eagle's Vision ability helps in quickly locating Samurai Daisho, allowing for stealthy and swift assassinations. Enhancing Naoe's assassination damage through mastery and engravings ensures instant kills.
- At lower levels, Yasuke can be more effective for clearing castles. Deliberately get detected and engage enemies in open combat. Triggering the alarm bell will draw most enemies to your location, enabling you to mow them down efficiently.
By employing these tactics, skilled players can amass up to or beyond 4,000 XP in mere minutes.
Assassinating Targets Nets Large XP Bonuses in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Beyond the main quest's required assassinations, *Assassin’s Creed Shadows* features numerous optional assassination targets. These can be discovered by engaging with specific NPCs and using scouts to track the targets' whereabouts. Utilizing fast travel points like Kakurega can bring you close to a target's location, allowing you to swiftly ride to them on your mount and execute the kill.
Each assassination yields a significant XP bonus, typically ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 XP, akin to completing a quest. The act of killing the target itself also awards XP comparable to that of defeating elite enemies. Completing an entire group of assassination targets and reporting back to the quest giver can grant a large XP bonus, often around 5,000 XP.